March On...!

Living Lent (and Loving Lent), with two children in college and one child in middle-school, has been a very interesting and a very self-revealing journey.

My motivation is stemming from another place, I am finding a different path to His grace.  I would not say that it is easier, in fact, it feels harder to keep to the traditions of the past.  Silence is always a good start.

"Speak, for your servant is listening."  1 Samuel 3:10

March is a month that is sometimes solemn, not in a grim or dour way, but in a ceremonious way.  March is a month of sincere preparation.  

I love decorating my home for all the seasons and for all the major feast days.  It is a cue to remind me and my family what we should be celebrating, and what we should be focusing on.

This coming Easter will be extra special.  We are celebrating two very important events.  Preparing for the big day is exciting and joyous.

But First...we enter into the Easter Triduum, with whole-hearted faith.

However you may prepare, always remember to Keep Love in Lent.

May your Holy Week be filled with His Love, Mercy and Grace.

~ Valerie

Epiphany Gingerbread Cake

Butterfly handmade the chocolate magi cake toppers with much love (& detail).

The Immaculate Conception

"Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you."

"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God." 

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word."

~ Luke 1:26-38

December 8th

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Patronal Feastday of the United States of America

Long before the angel Gabriel spoke those words to Mary, she was preserved from original sin.   While Mary was in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, she was kept sinless by the virtue of the foreseen life and death of Christ.  This was the Immaculate Conception.  Mary was concieved without original sin.

What better vessel to house the Son of God.  Thank you, Mary.  Thank you for your fiat.  Thank you for your motherly love.

~ Happy Tidings ~

Annunciation Cake

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter for some pretty, happy, funny & real times!

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Although we are still in the season of Lent, we are celebrating many feast days.  There are just so many Angels and Saints and we love to learn about them and ask for their intercessions throughout the year...In Lent, or out of Lent.

"Golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Revelations 5:8

Thank You Flowers for Confirmation 2015 & Conductor's clay Holy Family from 2003

We just celebrated the feast of St. Joseph (March 19), the spouse of Mary, and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25).

There are many was to celebrate feast days, even in Lent:

From decorating with statues or art work, to reading about a saint, or writings from a saint.  A favorite of mine is to celebrate with foods.  We have to eat...everyday.  We might as well incorporate the day with those associated with the patron in honor.  We love to sample new and exciting international types of food.  Foods that are authentic to the lands of the saints and traditional recipes that have been handed down from both old and contemporary customs.  They can be familiar or exotic.  They can be simple or extravagant... But they always remind us of our beloved saints.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.  This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  1 Timothy 2:1-4

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Celebrations

By far, the most ordinary way we have celebrated a feast day is to attend the Holy Mass, which is extraordinary.  It is the perfect prayer and celebration.  Unfortunately, this past school year has been challenging to make every Liturgical celebration.  We attend daily Mass when we can, and pray at home and celebrate with foods and decor and readings and prayers...

Let us CELEBRATE!

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St. Patrick's Day Meal Planning

For some reason I am really looking forward to cooking up some real traditional Irish dishes for Saint Patrick's Feast Day.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the fun green foods, but something hearty (and non-dyed) is tugging at my stomach heart.

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Below are some meal ideas & recipes...and two or three of these recipes result in green foods!

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Found at (where else),  Pinterest.

Skinny Shamrock Shake from Shugary Sweets

Creamy Potato & Leek Soup from Family Gone Healthy  (I will probably cook this on Friday)

Irish Apple Cake with Warm Custard Sauce from The Kitchen McCabe

Colcannon from James & Everett

and for some easy fun Treats & Snacks:

Shamrock Chips (using spinach tortillas) from Zakka life.

and last, but not least:
Shamrock Pretzels from Christianity Cove via Faith Filled Food for Moms

My Journal Memories:
St. Patrick's 2013
St. Patrick's 2013
St. Patrick's 2014

HAPPY FEAST DAY OF 

SAINT PATRICK

+ March 17th +

Wishing you many blessings from our home to yours...

~ Feeling Blue ~

Blue as in Marian Blue...

Have a blessed Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day!

"The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you!"

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

"Don't be frightened, Mary," the angel told her, "for God has decided to wonderfully bless you!  Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him 'Jesus.'

~ Luke 1:26-31

St. Lucy's Cookie Dough ~ White Chocolate Truffles

St. Lucy or St. Lucia is the patron saint for the blind & those with eye disorders.  

Her name means "light".  

She was born in Syracuse, Sicily, and was from a wealthy family.
She was persecuted while defending the Faith.  Lucia is often depicted holding her eyes on a golden plate, because her eyes were gouged out before she was executed. She was a young courageous Christian woman, filled with the love of God.  Read more about St. Lucy here.

  

Find the quick and easy recipe for Cookie Dough White Chocolate Truffles here.


St. Lucia, ora pro nobis!

All Souls Day

"The Lord is my Shepherd.  There is nothing I shall want."

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Requiem ~ Music of the Requiem by Gabriel Faure.  Beautiful.

In Paradisum

In paradisum deducant te Angeli;

May angels lead you into paradise;

in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres,

upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you,

et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem.

and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,

May the ranks of angels receive you,

et cum Lazaro quondam paupere

and with Lazarus, once a poor man

aeternam habeas requiem.

may you have eternal rest.

~ Gabriel Faure

~ Papal Cream Cake ~

After a quick search, I came across the simplest & quickest version of kremowka papieska (pronounced: kreh-MOOV-kah  pah-PYESS-kah) or Papal Cream Cake. 

This Polish dessert was renamed papal cream cake after it was learned that Pope John Paul II ate this as a youth, and apparently, he was quite fond of this delicious pastry.  

It is pretty high-profile dessert, now; and the story of how Karol Wojtyla, enjoyed this creamy pastry delight from his friend's father's bakery, is endearing.

It is the perfect choice of celebratory food, as we celebrate this 1st special occasion.  

On the first anniversary feast day of Pope St. John Paul II - we enjoy the kremowka papieska!

The Pastry Cream recipe I found, turned out to be DELICIOUS.  It was so easy to make.  Six basic ingredients:  milk, sugar, vanilla, salt, cornstarch & egg yolks.  It took about 15 minutes to make this delicious custard cream filling.

I cheated and used a pre-made puff pastry; so, I didn't need the butter after all.  The entire dessert (from start to finish) took less than an hour...that includes clean up.  I did have the frozen pastry dough thawed prior to my baking and prep time.

This was my first time making this dessert.  Perfect for a first time anniversary!

You can find the full step by step recipe for Papal Cream Cake here.

Sharing on the Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Link Up Blitz

~ The Easter Eggstravaganza & Menu ~

Have you moved on from Easter...?  Even though we celebrate for 50 days, here are some pics from our Easter Morning.  I am SO BACK-BLOGGED!

Every year we like to celebrate with the same delicious fare...maybe we add a couple new dishes & decor, in order to keep things a little interesting.  But we always, ALWAYS, serve the dishes we love and crave.  Including:

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Stuffed Mushrooms

Lemon & Dill Baked Salmon

Leg of Lamb with Rosemary

(not pictured) Macaroni Salad, Mandarin Orange Salad, & Quinoa

More Easter fare...

Grandma's Jello & Auntie's Peep Cookies

Mouth-watering, soft, warm, Buttery Pretzels...(from Good Friday)

Liquid Refreshments & Libations...

From the grandpa to the youngest, there was something for everyone!

The Decor...

The Easter Baskets...

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Simple & Sweet

The Easter Bonnet...

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FUNNY+

Finger-pointer:  Do your school work!

Confused Child:  School work?!  What's that??

Finger-pointer:  Guess!

Confused Child:  Is it something that you do on Google+???

cartoonists:  Conductor, Little Lamb & the mama - we just kept adding to the fun, til it was done.   :o)

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I cannot express how delighted I was to receive this gift...absolutely wonderfully made, lovely hand-made napkins.  They were a gift from my sister-in-laws mother.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I am still excited.  Can you tell?  It was an incredibly thoughtful and generous gift...and I just LOVE THEM!!!

If you are visiting...Welcome!  I hope you found something pretty, happy, funny, or real here on my little blog.  For more {phfr} times, visit Like Mother, Like Daughter.

You can also visit other Family Journals over at Catholic Bloggers Network

~+~ Blessings ~+~

~ Backed Blogged - March Feasts & Goings On: p,h,f,r style ~

Linking up to Like Mother, Like Daughter to share some pretty, happy, funny and real times...

March is filled with more wonderful feast days...which fall during the Lenten Season. These feast days tend to be even more celebratory (in our home), because we are in a solemn time, focusing on the "dying to ourselves", so that He can be better known in our hearts and through our works.

Here are several every day happenings in our lives at the Hand-Maid Household:

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Celebrating all the feast days makes for a pretty home...

Little Lamb waits patiently while her mother captures the moment via film :P

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This typewriter used to belong to my dad when he was in high school.  He gifted it to my eldest daughter, my Butterfly.  She is a freshman in High School, and although she has her own laptop to participate in her online courses, she has always wanted an 'old-fashioned' typewriter.

One of the first things she wrote (on the well-used, ink depleted ribbon) was a thank you letter to her grandfather -my dad- for the typewriter.  
Secondly, she wrote a story, while playing a game she made up of taking turns writing a story with several people.  The first person writes a paragraph, then the next person continues with a paragraph and so forth...It goes like this:

"My Sister Wants a Story, so...here goes.

     Once upon a time (as all fictional stories start) there was a very beautiful princess with red-brown hair that went all the way down to her feet.  Every evening, she would walk in her magical garden which wasn't very magical!
     She was joined by her white unicorn, named Crystal.  Crystal was a very tame unicorn that loved to fly through the clouds and over rainbows.  Her favorite food was marshmallows and cotton candy.  Crystal had brought her friend Amethyst.  Amethyst was a purple unicorn that had just joined the unicorn herd, so Crystal had brought her to meet her favorite human, Princess Guiliana, the only human who was smart enough to be able to talk to unicorns.  One day, a young prince of Pulchra Unus walked besides the garden wall and heard her singing.  Her voice was like angels in choir.  When she sang, the birds would join her and all the animals would stop and listen.
     He asked his manservant who was it that was singing with the heavenly voice.  His manservant (another name for comic relief, sidekick) answered that they must have died and gone to paradise.  Then the Paige replied, "it is Princess Royal, Guiliana of Hardcastle".  The prince insisted that he be gotten an audience with the King of Hardcastle, but there was a large golden gate with a large lock!!!!!!!!! 
     The lock could not be removed, unless one as worthy as to take the princess' hand in marriage came forth.  The Prince was determined to see the Princess, so after he returned from hunting he....(to be continued)."

More happy, the Library Book Sale was this month...So many gems were found!

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The growth of the chicks have been amazing.  I could take a picture everyday and see a change...

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During Lent, many activities are taking place in our home and within our Parish life.  This is the first year that I am not teaching the First Holy Communion class; however, as the DRE, I continue to organize the Sacraments that our young parishioners receive.  Traditionally, during the Lenten season, the 1st Communion students receive the sacrament of Confession (Penance or Reconciliation).  They also receive a blessed crucifix from the Holy Land.  The candle cross below, represents all those that have made the Sacrament of Penance.

Candles are placed on a small table.  These candles will be lit once each child has made their First Confession.  The flame is taken from the Paschal Candle of last year.   It is a beautiful day...many souls are made clean and pure.

Also, as the years fly by, we turn from all the wonderful activities that we enjoyed while the children were younger and celebrate the feast days with food and books.  That is not to say we do not participate in any activities, but they are not as frequent or as needed.  Here are a few books that we enjoy during the March feasts...

We have enjoyed the traditional St. Joseph's table in the past, and we hope to enjoy it in years to come -

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However, this year, we settled for a day of Holy Mass and quiet prayer.  It was perfect!

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