Summer Part IV: Antonito

Our final day on the road took us to Antonito, and the oldest Catholic church in Colorado, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This was very curious. The bell tower was aparently infested with bees.

Can you tell what object in this picture just doesn't seem to "go" with the rest? One of these things is not like the others....
Beautiful stained glass.

We drove home after visiting this beautiful old church. We had a great vacation and hope to see more of our country next summer.

Summer Part III: Mesa Verde

The next day we went to Mesa Verde.

The dancers demonstrated traditional Indian dances.
This man explained some of the dances and traditions of his people, and told funny jokes.

Here are some of the famous ruins of the Mesa Verde area. You could not live in these dwellings if you were claustrophobic.
This photo was taken from the van across a chasm.
Amazing how these ancient people built these dwellings.

Our last night on the road we had an indoor pool at the motel:

Summer: Part II: Aztec

On the road we stopped at a scenic overlook to stretch our legs a bit.

Our next stop was Aztec National Monument.

Our last stop this day was Four Corners. We took the requisite tourist photo:

Food Meme

Mimi over at Bigger than a Breadbox had this meme up, so I consider myself tagged.

You take the letters of your name and write a little food-related factoid for each.

K - Kielbasa. Yummy. a friend brought over a casserole with penne pasta and kielbasa - delicious!

I - Italian Wedding Soup. This is such a good "comfort food!" It's a meatball soup with spinach I think - it's been a while since I made it; time to find the recipe again, methinks.

T - Tea. This is the perfect time of year for it. A friend of mine sells very good teas, and I had a tea party where she demonstrated how to brew different kinds for the best flavor (white, green, black, oolong and red). I ordered a bunch of them for myself and for Christmas gifts.

T - Tortillas. Corn for enchiladas, flour for fajitas or burritos. Fry some up and eat them topped with fried eggs and salsa. Mmmmm... that sounds good right now.

Y - Yogurt. Plain with honey; Raspberry in the blender with bananas and frozen berries; Strawberry with Cool Whip, poured into a Graham cracker crust and frozen - Yogurt is a great treat!


Note to self: Never do food memes when you're hungry.

What I Did This Summer: Part I: The Great Sand Dunes

This summer we took a family road trip to several places relatively near our home. This is the first trip we have taken as a family that wasn't specifically to visit more family.



Our first stop was the Great Sand Dunes. What a fun day that was! We had fun wading through the stream that runs at the foot of the dunes.



Once we made it across the water we began the climb up the sand.
It was a windy day, but other than the stings from the flying sand, it was a wonderful day.

Highland Fling

Over Labor Day Weekend, we got all dressed up and headed up to the Longs Peak Highland Festival and Games. Dad had signed us up to march in the parade to represent the Rutherford Clan earlier in the summer, so we all got together for that.
Front row: Lucy (8), Andrew (5), Susan (3), Margaret (7), Anne (4), Benedict (almost 2), Peter (1 1/2).
Back Row: Rebekah, Mike, Benjamin, Ian (in back), Mom, James, Dad & Paula

James (holding St. Andrew's Saltire flag above) bought fabric and supplies and he and Mom & Dad made the clan banner and the clan banner (being held by Ian, right behind Mom) Here we are in the parade (above). Doesn't Dad look great in his kilt? His kids all got together and bought him the kilt, jacket & brogues last Christmas. My beautiful Sister-In-Law is in the center wearing a skirt she made herself, and Mom is behind the second stroller wearing her gorgeous hostess outfit. I wish I had a better picture! I am bringing up the rear (37 weeks pregnant) in a navy blue dress my mother wore to MY wedding 11 years ago. I pinned a mini-sash in the family tartan on my shoulder.
Here's Mike holding a banner while we waited for the parade to start. Doesn't he look handsome in his Tweed jacket and cap?

Anne, Lucy, Susan, Margaret & Andrew cooled their feet after the parade at our picnic site not far from where we started marching.

We had a great time and hope to do it again next year!
We ha

The Lord's Day

We try to make Sundays special. We go to Mass in the morning and don't do any unnecessary work, and I try to have a special dessert just to celebrate the Lord's Day and the gift of family.

Last Sunday we woke up to blizzard conditions, so we did not go to Mass. Instead, we had our own Liturgy of the Word and Spiritual Communion. Susan even sang the Sanctus for us, so we recorded her:


Later, we made an apple pie!

Here's Susan helping with the flour:



Here's Margaret with the pie filling we made a few weeks ago and had in the freezer:
Here's Ian putting the pie crust in the dish:

YUMMY!!

Wordless Wednesday

Curse You, Danielle Bean!!!

Just kidding! I love Danielle Bean, and I love Faith & Family magazine, of which she is the Senior Editor. I am just complaining (in jest) about the burned cookies which resulted from following the directions for the Gingersnap recipe in the latest (Nov/Dec 2007) issue. I had to reduce the time the cookies spent in the oven to 8 minutes instead of 10 - 12 minutes. I am sure it's my oven's fault, not Danielle's:

Baby, It's Cold Outside

This is what it looks like outside:



So this is what we did inside:



Yep! It's time to make Christmas cookies! Today we made Gingersnaps, and hopefully in the coming weeks we'll make Rum Balls, Springerle, Pine Bark, and Christmas Eve Mice. If we do get around to doing all that, I'll post pictures and recipes.

Here's the recipe for Gingersnaps (adapted from Faith & Family magazine, Nov/Dec 2007 issue)

2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. each ground ginger, cloves, and cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
3/4 Cup shortening
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 Cup molasses
granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375*F. Greese 2 baking sheets. In a bowl, mix together the flour, spices and salt. In large bowl, cream the shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until well blended. Pinch off 1-inch-sized pieces of dough and roll into balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes*. Let cool on wire racks.

* 10 minutes was too long in my oven: I had better luck with 8 minutes.

Fried Green Tomatoes, Anyone? Please?

My Father-In-Law's greenhouse yielded quite a bounty of tomatoes this year, as you can see.



Unfortunately, the growing season in our part of the country does not allow ALL the tomatoes to ripen, so now we need to do something with the green ones. Does anyone have a recipe or two for unripened tomatoes, and will the recipe freeze well?



Here's Ian making salsa with some of the red tomatoes. Yummy! That will go into the freezer.



This is the recipe we used for the salsa:

Tomato Freezer Salsa

5 large field tomatoes, peeled
2 Tbsp. olive oil
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped*
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 Cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and place in a sieve over a bowl to drain extra juice.

2. Heat oil over medium heat in a nonstick skillet.

3. Add onions, jalapeno pepper and garlic; cook for 7 minutes or until softened but not brown, stirring often.

4. Let cool.

5. Stir in drained tomatoes.

6. Stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper.

7. Spoon into tightly sealed plastic containers and freeze for up to 4 months.

* For a little bite of spiciness, keep some of the seeds and put them into your salsa with the jalapenos. The salsa we made had NO heat whatsoever without the seeds.

New Christmas blog

Here is a new blog dedicated to spreading the True Meaning of Christmas! I hope you will visit and find some good ideas for this coming Advent!

Idea #20 says to buy an oplatek - if you want to see what oplatki are or buy some, go to my husband's online store Aquinas and More and see!

I live in the Hundred-Acre Wood

Not really, but I am Kanga, according to this:


Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Pioneer Tough

On Thursday, Sept. 20 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at home, with the assistance of 2 midwives, my husband and my Mother-In-Law. I was in labor since 6 that morning, but hard labor didn't come until almost 10 that night, and Maria Isabel Andrea was born shortly after.

On Sunday, Sept. 23 we drove into town and went to Mass. Afterwards we went to the parish hall for donuts and coffee. We met a couple of families with lots of children, like us, and one man looked at me incredulously when he found out how old our baby was and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you are pioneer tough!"

I laughed about it then, but after Mass we spent the afternoon and evening at my In-Laws' house where they were having a farewell-to-summer party. I didn't do much more than sit around nursing the baby, but I spent the next few days groaning and staying in bed as much as I could. Not too pioneer-like at that point!

Fall is Here

Yesterday was a glorious day. The weather was beautiful and we spent the afternoon and evening outdoors with family and friends celebrating the end of summer and the beginning of autumn feasting on paella & gazpacho (two traditional Spanish dishes) and sangria (Spanish red wine punch), as well as desserts and appetizers galore.

Today started foggy and cold, and right now, at 1:30 in the afternoon, the rain has started and the wind has shifted to the North. Definitely tea and cozy sweater weather!

Birth Announcement!

My newest daughter Maria Isabel was born on Thursday, Sept. 20. She's a real sweetie and we all love her. Praise God she is finally here!

Forget the Poinsettias this Christmas!

I recently came across this post over at O Night Divine. It seems that 70% of the nation's poinsettias, those beautiful red plants used to decorate our homes and churches throughout December, are provided by the Ecke family in California. Sounds great - support a family business and decorate to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

BUT this family, unfortunately, uses the money they get from the sales of these poinsettias to renovate abortion mills and support Planned Parenthood's agenda of more abortions!

So, can anyone think of a better alternative to buying poinsettias this year? Get the word out to your pastors about this!

Musings from A Catholic Bookstore has more on this.

Please post any church and home decorating ideas!

Everybody Loves a Parade!

* I will add the photos to go with this post later. *


Last weekend (Saturday, September 9, to be precise) we all drove up to Estes Park, Colorado to participate in the Longs Peak Highland Games Parade. I made hard-boiled eggs and gingerbread cookies the night before so we could eat on the road, since we had to leave at 6 AM.

We arrived at the parade site supposedly just before the parade was to start, but had to stand around for a while before we actually started moving because there were many clans and bands there, and we had to wait our turn to go. Next year we'll send one person to sign us all in, and actually bring everyone to the line up later. The littlest ones got a bit impatient, and I (37 weeks pregnant) was anxious to get going, too!

My Brother-In-Law bought the fabric and designed the banners which were carried by the men in the family.

Doesn't Dad look great in his kilt? Mom looks elegant in her Hostess Dress. My beautiful Sister-In-Law made the skirt she is wearing when she was in Junior High School! And look how gorgeous she looks in it now that she is married and has an almost-two-year-old son (the cutie in the Glengarry hat), and a "bun in the oven." The guys looked handsome in their Tweed jackets and driver's caps. My guys all had matching tartan ties. I wore a tartan mini-sash over my shoulder with a navy blue dress my mother wore at my wedding 11 years ago!

It was wonderful to see that many people still know what to do when the Flag of the United States passes by. Many veterans in the crowds stood and saluted, and many civilians and children put their hands over their hearts.

After the parade, we had a picnic lunch at a nearby picnic area. The kids had fun dipping their feet in the stream at our picnic site.

It was a great day - the weather could not have been better. Next year we'll do it again, God willing!

Retreat

Today I am alone in the house for a couple of hours. Normally, Mondays are for grocery shopping and errand running, but today I am just too pregnant to walk, much less drive all over town getting groceries and library books.

So Ian took the kids (all 6 of them by himself - what a man!) and loaded them into the van after treating us to a yummy breakfast of oatmeal and home-made biscuits. They are off to do the necessaries of the day while I waddle around the house looking for the last items I need before the baby's born. And then I'll lie down and let my back relax for a few minutes while I do some spiritual reading. That's probably all I have time for today, but it is enough.