~ She's Fourteen ~

Another birthday has come...Our Butterfly is turning 14!!!

(cliche alert)  IT SEEMS LIKE JUST YESTERDAY she became a teenager...but already another year has flown by!

When I asked her what she would like to do for her birthday...a special dinner out, party (like last year), friends, family, cake...???  All she wanted was a hand-made dinner at home with her family.  Her requested menu?  This:

Orange Chicken
California Ranch Rice
Fresh Spinach

and for her dessert.....Apple Pie a la mode.

So after decorating the house during the night, she woke up to this...

 

Butterfly's dinner request happens to be a favorite of all three of my children (knowing everyone will be happy), she's sweet that way.  She's gentle and kind...and thoughtful.





I cheated on the pie...but maybe it's for the best.  It tasted great!  (home-made pies are not my forte).  We used candles that stay lit after you blow them out...ha!  They made a lot of smoke, I finally had to douse them in a glass of water...I reached for the closest one (my husband's).  :p










These are the gifts she found after our traditional Birthday Treasure Hunt...Books, books, books! Vintage Lone Ranger books...and that's not all...but

That's one happy girl!

WE LOVE YOU SWEET DAUGHTER!!! 

HAPPY FOURTEENTH!!! 

GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU ALWAYS!!!

 

~ Favorite Foods: California Ranch Rice ~

This is one of the top ten dished requested in our home...

~ California Ranch Rice ~

Dear husband grew up with this dish and now, so are my children...

INGREDIENTS

Butter, 3 Tbsp.
Onion, small, chopped
Rice, 3 - 4 cups, cooked
Sour Cream, 2 cups
Cottage Cheese, 1 cup
Green Chilies, 10 oz.
Cheddar Cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.

Steam/cook rice according to package (basically 2c water for every 1c rice). 

While the rice is steaming/cooking,

Butter 13 x9 casserole dish.  Set aside.

Saute onions in butter until translucent.

Combine cooked rice, into sauteed onions, add sour cream, cottage cheese and salt & pepper to taste.  Mix together.

 

Place layer of rice mixture on bottom of buttered casserole dish, then top with a layer of green chilies. 







Sprinkle a little cheese on top, like this: 

Repeat layers, (ideally) ending with rice. 





Sometimes if I have extra chilies, I just throw them on top. 

Bake, uncovered in 350 oven for 25 minutes.






Sprinkle cheese on top during the last remaining 10 minutes.

Cheese will be melted to deliciousness...

 This definitely qualifies as a comfort food...

~ Random Five on Friday ~ April 5th, 2013

Joining Miranda at The Pebble Pond to try and organize FIVE family friendly random moments in my life...Here goes!

1.  We are just beginning to celebrate Easter here...all 50 days of AWESOMENESS!

2.  I make oversized corny love notes and paste them on our walls to let my children know that I'm thinking about them...

3.  I love to photograph my garden...every year, same plants, over and over; I'm always excited and amazed at the new growth and I never tire of the beauty...

4.  See, I told you...

5.  After watching an episode on making cannolis on The Cake Boss, I have been craving one!  Cannoli.  Cannoli.  Where can I get an authentic fresh cannoli?
I'm happy to report that I experienced my first cannoli this week...after months of searching for the perfect one!  It was well worth the wait...If you're ever in San Francisco go have a cannoli and cup of cappeccino here at Stella Pastry and Cafe.  Oh my.

Blurry, but beautiful...
my hands must have been shaking from the excitement.

Visit The Pebble Pond to share in some family friendly random moments on

~ Random 5 on Friday  ~

~ Church Bulletin ~

Do you read yours?
I love how our pastor includes many Easter Tradition ideas in our church bulletin.  We have borrowed a few ideas over the past seven or eight years...
 
Here are some to share:

EASTER BASKET:

No, not from the Easter bunny...lol.  The Blessed Easter Basket has (particular) items that symolize somthing special as it pertains to the Easter Celebration.  For instance,

THE EGG:  Long a symbol of life and re-birth in Catholic tradition.  The egg is the standard symbol of the Resurrection of  our Lord.  It also represents everlasting life and renewal for all who believe in HIM.  Eggs hold the seeds of revival and fertility upon the earth.  The colored egg is symbolic of the tomb in which our Lord was placed.  The egg was originally RED in color, representing the blood of Christ which purifies the believers.

Here are our eggs this year...we tried and tried to get the color, RED, but only managed to get a festive fuchsia...oh well.  We did try.

Our friend made some for our pastor, which came out a darker shade, it was a mixture of beet juice and something else...(onions, maybe; I can't remember!), I think these look much more authentic:

PASCHAL LAMB:  May be made of butter, sugar or baked dough.  It is the center of the symbolic foods-ladened table.  It is the central symbol to the Catholic faith.  For the fullest Easter celebrations, the Lamb is featured carrying a victorious red banner, upon which is a cross.  The Lamb, the symbol of ancient times as the sacrificial animal, now portrays Christ as victorious through this presentation.

We use many lamb symbols (on our table and throughout our home, including the butter, cake, sugar, and paper napkins and paper-mache!  Here are some pictures from years prior:

MEAT:  Ham or Sausage.  The pig, from which this meat is derived, is also an ancient symbol of prosperity.  Forbidden in the Old Testament, they are part of the bounteous meal of Easter.

My mother served both ham AND lamb...

HORSERADISH & PEPPER:  Symbol of bitter herbs of the Passover, signifying bitterness of spiritual exile and bitterness of the suffering of Jesus.

Peppered Potatoes

I'll partake in the horseradish (if roast beef is being served). :o)  Actually, it went well with the lamb.

VINEGAR:  Our Lord was given gall (sour wine) to drink as He hung upon the cross.  Vinegar reminds us of this act when He declared:  "I Thirst".

SALT:  By His words, we are the "salt of the earth", and we are reminded of our Holy Baptism into Christ. 

PASCHAL BREAD:  This is a round loaf of sweet bread, topped with the cross.  It symbolizes the bread of the Eucharistic Meal.  It also declares to us as it vividly declared to the Emmaus Disciples...Christ is known to us in the breaking of bread.  Shown here, at Family Food for Feast and Feria, is a beautiful example and wonderful turorial. 

MYRTLE OR OTHER GREENS:  The Easter Basket is decorated with little branches of myrtle of other greens.  Myrtle is a ritual green, a symbol of purity and is used to decorate all items in the basket.
I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of our Easter Baskets!!  Oh well, here are some other "greens":

OTHER CAKES AND SWEETS:  In addition to Paschal Sweet Bread, and assortment of various cakes and cookies may be used as part of the festivities.  Adorned with Myrtle, or other decoration, they add color and flavor to the Easter Basket. 

Little Lamb made the chocolate covered strawberries...
I've been wanting these all month!

Hand-made cake by my sister-in-law...so cute!

Our Easter Dessert Table is not complete without a carrot cake...
My mother made not one, but two kinds of cake!
Now I know where I got this from...

(I love this part!!!  Our pastor does not mince words!):
"Maybe your ancestors brought different customs and traditions to the USA.  Try to follow them.  Don't cut off your roots.  The tree with cut roots will die."
:o)

This is what I read in our church bulletin about the Blessed Easter Basket:  "The immigrants from Eastern Europe brought many beautiful customs to the USA.  One of them is the blessing of the food for the first meal of Easter.  Every Holy Saturday, some people carry baskets laden with food.  Others carry smaller baskets with an assortment of symolic items of food."

What meaningful traditions do you bring to the table...or around your house?
I'll be sharing more of our Easter traditions as we celebrate the
Fifty Days of Easter Joy...

Linking up to Catholic Bloggers Network:

2013 Monthly Link-Up Blitz -
~ Catholic Family Journal ~