MAJOR FREAK OUT...ALL MY PICTURES WERE DELETED FROM BLOGGER!!!

Hello everyone...As I said in the title, I'm having a major freak out moment right now because I just realized that somehow I managed to delete ALL THE PICTURES FROM MY PREVIOUS POSTS.  I have no idea how I managed to do this...the only thing I can think of was when I deleted a bunch of pictures from Google Plus last week, it must have been connected to my blog somehow.  Anyway, I tried to replace the pictures as far back as I could and am now trying to calm down and remind myself it is not the end of the world.  Deep breath.  Everything will be okay.  This is a good penance for Lent.  Just relax.

From The Kitchen..."Sweetsome Sundays"...

During Lent my family has always had a few standard sacrifices we offer up together every year (such as movies, sweets, up-beat music, etc.) in addition to what we offer up on our own. But we try to take a break to sort of give everyone the chance to catch their breath and start out strong again for another week by having a dessert on Sundays and first class feast days.  On Fat Tuesday I had attempted to make an apple pie with only about four of the correct ingredients (one of which was "apples") and ended up with a concoction that had a very strong "plantain" flavor.  It still tasted pretty good, but I wanted to make a more "perfected" version, so I finally got all the correct ingredients for us to have another pie on Sunday.

Perfect Paleo Pie Crust:

11/2 Cups Almond Flour

1/2 Cup Arrowroot Flour

2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (or Coconut sugar)

1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Butter

6 Tbsp. Cold Water

1 Tsp. Vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in your food processor.  Cut butter into chunks and pulse with dry mixture until it resembles course breadcrumbs.  Add wet ingredients and blend until well mixed.  Shape mixture into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.  When ready, divide into two parts and roll out into desired shape.  Place one part in pie dish and save the other for the top.

Amazing Apple Pie 

3 Large Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced very thin

Juice of 1 Lemon

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

11/2 Tbsp. Arrowroot Flour

1 Tsp. Each of Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg (optional...we like it better without)

4 Tbsp. Butter

Preheat oven to 475 Degrees.  Gently fold apple slices into lemon juice until well coated.  Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Cover the bottom of your prepared pie dish with a layer of apple slices, overlapping them over each other.  Sprinkle one tablespoon of the dry mixture over the apples.  Repeat until apples and dry mixture is used up.  Cut butter into chunks and place all over the top of the pie.  Cover with reserved pie crust and bake for ten minutes.  Lower temperature to 350 Degrees and bake for another thirty minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool for a few minutes, then serve with ice cream for absolute decadence.

Le Ball Masque...

Nobody could stand a Thanksgiving Day dinner every day of the year. There can only be mountains if there are also valleys. It is a pity that the Reformation did away not only with most of the sacraments and all of the sacramentals, but also, unfortunately, with the very breath of the Mystical Body — that wonderful, eternal rhythm of high and low tide that makes up the year of the Church: times of waiting alternate with times of fulfillment, the lean weeks of Lent with the feasts of Easter and Pentecost, times of mourning with seasons of rejoicing. Modern man lost track of this. Deep down in the human heart, however, is imbedded the craving to celebrate, and, in a dumb way, the other craving to abstain, perhaps to atone. In general, these cravings are no longer directed in seasonal channels, as they are for the Catholic, or even for the aborigine who participates in some tribal religious belief..... 

It should be our noble right and duty to bring up our children in such a way that they become conscious of high tide and low tide, that they learn that there is "a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance." The rhythm of nature as it manifests itself in the four seasons, in day and night, in the individual's heartbeat and breathing — this rhythm we should learn to recognize, and to treat with more reverence. Modern man has become used to turning day into night and night into day according to his whim or pleasure. He has managed to lose contact completely with himself. He has lost the instinct for the right food and drink, stuffing himself with huge quantities of the wrong things and feeding himself sick. But worst of all, and this sounds almost ridiculous, in the process of growing up he forgot the right kind of breathing....

Again, it is our faithful friend, Holy Mother Church, who leads her children first back to nature in order to make them ready to receive supernatural grace. "Gratia supponit naturam."

Looked upon in this light, the weeks of Carnival are a most necessary time for the individual as well as for families and communities. This period is set aside for us to "let off steam," "to have a good time." And for this we need company. Therefore, Carnival is most obviously the season for parties and family get-togethers...with the avowed intention of having that good time together. Carnival is the time to be social, to give and to receive invitations for special parties. It is the time to celebrate as a parish group... 

(Maria von Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family, Carnival or Mardi Gras).

In our community, we have a tradition that we look forward to every year.  On Fat Tuesday we cook up everything in the house that we are sacrificing for Lent and have a movie marathon...usually a series that we don't watch very often like "The Lord Of The Rings" or the "Bourne Trilogy" (edited, of course).  This year a good friend decided to add another tradition to help us prepare for our time of penance: a masquerade!!! 

Our friends asked us to help them organize and teach the dances ("ABSOLUTELY YES WHEN DO I START?!?!") so we started meeting at our house on Monday to go through all the steps.  Mrs. H. was wanting to do a more Jane Austen themed evening, so we collected songs and dances from the Period Era...everyone was watching "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" all week to get in the mood.  All of us girls were exchanging dresses and hair styles and frantically trying to find "the perfect mask"...not to mention trying to learn to dance the "Ship's Cook".

On Friday we all gathered to decorate the room with tulle and lights, and practice more dancing...

Saturday night the room was almost filled...

We danced for nearly five hours straight!!! I even got to help call one or two dances because Mrs. H.'s voice was starting to give out...everyone had a wonderful time and the only people sitting down were those who didn't want to dance or were resting.  We're already planning a May Day dance for after Lent...  

Weekly Roundup...

What I Liked...

...helping prepare for a masquerade ball to be held in our community

...finding this mask on Etsy

...new makeup brushes made from natural fibers

...the way our living room looks now that my brother rearranged all the furniture

...friends who take great pains to make Paleo dishes for my mom and I when we go to their house

...my first ThredUp order coming in (yippee!!!)

...how the employees at Natural Grocers all know my mom and I by name

...the song "I Will Never Love Again" from The Princess Bride...I'm listening to it as I write this and it is so beautiful it will break your heart

...a third person telling me that if I had dark hair I would look like Keira Knightley...I don't see that, but thank you...

...a completely different person telling me I look like Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind

What I Didn't...

...really nice, warm weather turning into sub-freezing, grey weather...overnight

...not sleeping for a week and the consequential dark, baggy circles under my eyes

...feeling terrible for a whole week and not being sure if it's a good sign (the new enzymes I'm taking starting to work) or a bad sign (something is wrong)...the life of someone with an Autoimmune Disease...

...hearing our parish priest may very well have been exposed to whooping cough

...being unable to log into Blogger on our new tablet...for some reason it only has my dad's account on there

What Made Me Laugh...

...these remarks from two little boys we were babysitting as they colored pictures "I'm the best color-er in my whole family!" "Yeah, except for me."

...playing fetch with our dog, Lottie

...my brother's friend saying he wants to wear one of those Medieval Black Plague Masks for the masquerade...sure, that will get you a lot of partners, all right...=)

What I Accomplished...

...finishing the back of my quilt...for real, this time

...finding enough music for us to have thirty-two reels and eight waltzes at our masquerade...no danger of running out of songs, I guess...

...getting caught up on all the business bookkeeping...I feel like Bob Crachit

...cleaning out my closet (finally)

How was your week?

What did you like/not like/laugh at/accomplish?

(I forgot to publish this last week!)

ThredUp...

Hey everyone! Recently I discovered ThredUp...an online consignment store.  Brand name, like-new, clothes and shoes for up to 90% off retail price without having to leave the comfort of your home...it doesn't get much better than that in my opinion! I for one was thrilled to find their website and have already ordered some shirts and a pair of sandals. My one drawback was being unable to try the clothes on beforehand, but they have a thirty day return policy for most items. You can also sell them your clothes for money or store credit.  And speaking of which, if you use this link, you will receive ten dollars in store credit plus free shipping! And,when you purchase something, I also get ten dollars in store credit...so everybody is happy all around.  I have found lots of stylish, modest clothing just from the few times I have browsed through the collection, so I'm sure you can find something lovely to spend your ten dollars on.  Happy Shopping!

Five Lies About Modesty...

When I first began dressing modestly I was pressured on practically every side by our culture to give up.  I was only about twelve years old so it was my parents who decided what I was going to wear or not wear, and I didn't understand at first the importance of their decision.  The biggest problem, I think, was that I literally knew NO ONE at all who dressed modestly.  This is a big problem when you are a young girl because you don't want to stand out or look "weird". Once I met a girl my age at our parish who did, everything became easier, but it wasn't until I was in my late teens that I began to research the whys and wherefores of dressing in a "Mary-Like Manner".  What I learned was that most girls and young women (including myself) have been and are being presented with a false image of what modesty really is...if more of us could see the truth about modesty, the world would be a much nicer place.  I could go on for hours about everything that's currently wrong with the world but for this post I am going to limit myself to clearing up the top five lies about modesty.

1. Modest Means Frumpy...

I really, really prayed that this wasn't true when my parents first changed our clothing standards.  I had no one to look to for inspiration when I was a teenager, so I thought I was the only girl who wanted to look stylish and yet modest at the same time.  Thank Heaven, I was VERY WRONG.

The Church's position on modesty is:

"A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees.  Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper." (The sleeve length was raised to at least a quarter of the arm)
As long as your clothes fit into these standards, you're free to mix, match, and style as you like! I have found a wealth of inspiration from people like Olivia Howard from Fresh Modesty  and Colleen Hammond from Dressing With Dignity, not to mention several lovely ladies of my acquaintance who always try to dress in a stylish, yet modest, manner.  The internet is full of blogs by young women trying to bring back more feminine styles, not to mention the Pinterest folders! You can see my personal collection here.  To sum up, women were dressing modestly and stylishly for thousands of years before the mini-skirt was invented.  

2. Modest Clothing Restricts Your Movements, So You Can Do Nothing But Sit Inside And Knit...

Firstly, I like knitting.  And secondly, I have never had to pass up a single activity (short of rock climbing...and I probably could have joined in on that if my skirt had been longer) that I have wanted to partake in at any time of my life because I was wearing a modest skirt.  I have gone tubing, jogging, bouncing on the trampoline, dancing, tree climbing, motorcycle riding...and not once had a problem.  A dear friend even rides horses and and can beat her brothers (and mine!) in a race...depending on the style of skirt you are wearing, you can do pretty much anything in a modest way.

3. I Shouldn't Have To Be Uncomfortable To Keep Men From Committing Sins; That's Their Problem...

Sigh...Okay, there are men out there who will be committing sins regardless of how you dress, but there are also many, many men (young and old) who are trying to keep their minds and souls pure, and we really should try to help them out.  Men are designed to be attracted to women's bodies, so when you dangle forbidden fruit in front of them continuously, you are making it that much harder for them to avoid mortal sin.  Wearing sleeves or a long skirt does not make you that much more uncomfortable than you would be otherwise, but even if you felt like you were being broiled in an oven from the extra material, what is that compared to the immortal souls you will not be putting in danger? The Bible says that we are "our brother's keeper" and we should all be helping each other avoid sin as best we can, men and women alike.  What really made this hit home with me was the remarks my brothers have started making as they've gotten older about how much easier it is to talk to a girl when you're not constantly having to fight a battle in your mind because of her scanty outfit.   

4. It's Impossible To Find Modest Clothing...

Yeah, right.  See the links on number one.

5. Guys Don't Notice Girls Who Dress Modestly...

This is the part where most people say "Guys may chase girls who dress like that now, but when they get married they'll want a nice girl" and I'm sorry, but I don't believe that is a very helpful thing to say.  If a young man does not have enough self control to refrain from "chasing girls" because they dress in an immodest way then he probably wouldn't make a very good husband anyway.  Believe it or not, there are good young men out there, and though they be rare, they are not so extinct as to give you the excuse to give yourself to a man who does not deserve you.  Guys do notice the girls who dress modestly, and they do appreciate it, even if they don't say anything to you.  It makes most guys uncomfortable to even admit that they have a problem in this area, but don't think just because they don't flirt with you they don't think you're special.  The fact is, they see you're different and respect you too much to waste your time and emotions with flirting.

Well, there are the top five lies most girls are presented with about modesty.  I hope I was able to encourage you all to move further away from the world's standard of how to dress and closer to a more "Mary-like Modesty", because we should always be progressing forward in this area, as in every area of our lives.

From The Kitchen...Cherry Macaroons

Hello there! Today I'm sharing a recipe for an amazing and healthy treat that my mom and I love to munch on from time to time.  These Macaroons are very much like the Hail Merry Strawberry Macaroons you can find at Whole Foods or any other Health Food store, except I make them nut free and with freeze dried cherries.  We love Hail Merry's version but they are too expensive to consume in the quantity I would like, so I blended several different recipes and added some touches of my own to make my own, much cheaper version.  If you do not have a dehydrator, get one.  It is one of the most marvelous inventions since cheesecake.  Until then, you can use the oven to make these by baking them at 300 F. for twenty-two to twenty-five minutes, or until they are dry on the outside.

1 Cup of Coconut Butter (just blend 5 cups of shredded coconut in your food processor until smooth and creamy)

1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

2 Cups Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

1 oz. Freeze-dried Cherries (or strawberries if you prefer)

Pulse the cherries in your food processor until they are course and well ground.  Add the remaining ingredients minus the shredded coconut and blend until well mixed.  Fold in coconut with a spatula and mix well.  Roll mixture into little balls (or use a melon ball scooper) and place on your dehydrator trays (or cookie sheet if using the oven) and place in the dehydrator.  Dehydrate on 110 degrees for 12-24 hours and try to avoid eating any until they're done (this may be difficult).  When they're done, put them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge until you finish them off (it won't be long).  Enjoy!

Print The Recipe Here


(And in all honesty, Mom actually made this batch...)