Tomatoes

We have tomatoes ripening on our tomato plant in our container garden! I could have sworn that I bought a cherry tomato plant, but these are the biggest cherry tomatoes I've ever seen. We'll taste test tonight.

We had one strawberry before it got too hot here, and two banana peppers with more on the way. Mint is doing well, although now that it is hot (REALLY hot), I have to really keep up with the watering. Basil is once again hard to grow in Dallas, but does quite well down in Houston.

Out of the mouths of babes

Although we explained to our three-year-old that the baby was no longer in Mommy's tummy but in Heaven, I was a little surprised by the following conversation. I wanted her to understand why Mommy and Daddy were sad and wanted to make sure that she was doing ok.

Mommy: "Mommy and Daddy are sad because the baby isn't here. Are you sad?"
Little One: "No."
Mommy: "You're not sad? Why?"
Little One: "Baby is in Heaven with Jesus praying."

Well, there you go.

Our loss - and our gain in Heaven

Before Little One was born, we lost two other children through miscarriages. We recently lost another one. Yes, I struggle with "why", especially since I was on aspirin and progesterone (which worked once before). But I know this baby, along with two of his siblings, is in Heaven and that we as a family have three babies to intercede on our behalf always.

Prayer on EWTN from Mother Angelica:

My Lord, the baby is dead!

Why, my Lord—dare I ask why? It will not hear the whisper of the wind or see the beauty of its parents’ face—it will not see the beauty of Your creation or the flame of a sunrise. Why, my Lord?

“Why, My child—do you ask ‘why’? Well, I will tell you why.

You see, the child lives. Instead of the wind he hears the sound of angels singing before My throne. Instead of the beauty that passes he sees everlasting Beauty—he sees My face. He was created and lived a short time so the image of his parents imprinted on his face may stand before Me as their personal intercessor. He knows secrets of heaven unknown to men on earth. He laughs with a special joy that only the innocent possess. My ways are not the ways of man. I create for My Kingdom and each creature fills a place in that Kingdom that could not be filled by another. He was created for My joy and his parents’ merits. He has never seen pain or sin. He has never felt hunger or pain. I breathed a soul into a seed, made it grow and called it forth.”

I am humbled before you, my Lord, for questioning Your wisdom, goodness, and love. I speak as a fool—forgive me. I acknowledge Your sovereign rights over life and death. I thank You for the life that began for so short a time to enjoy so long an Eternity.

Because it was still early (first trimester), we had only told close family and Little One. Some may argue against telling a child, especially a small child. But we want her to know that every life is precious and cherished. And now she knows that the baby is in Heaven with Jesus.

We are doing ok. I'm a little nervous since I will be having surgery soon for the miscarriage, so please keep us in your prayers.

Bread and Butter

Wow, apparently May was a busy month for me. My apologies for the lack of posts. Awhile back, Aussie Therese asked for the soda bread recipe that I wrote about on April 1. So, ever on top of things, here it is.

Soda Bread Recipe

This recipe isn’t mine. I found it on the Internet, but didn’t save the link. My apologies to whomever this recipe belongs. I've add commentary throughout.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
Grease or foil for baking sheet

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add buttermilk to mixture. Mix with your hands and/or have your child mix with his/her hands until blended (dough will be sticky). Wash child’s hands. Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Knead lightly four to five times. Shape dough into an 8-inch round loaf (or in my case, two 4-inch round loaves). Place on baking sheet coated or covered (I don’t like cooking spray). Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on wire rack.

This is totally me and why I don’t bake much: I apparently did something wrong because even though I baked two smaller loaves instead of the one loaf suggested by the recipe, it took a bit longer to bake. I’d say at least another 15-20 minutes. And then it turned out rather dense, although I know soda bread is a denser bread.

Butter

Cream
Salt (optional)

Find a container with a secure top. We used an old baby food jar, but that doesn’t make much. Something like a jam jar would probably work great. Fill jar half way with cream (as organic and close to raw as you can get). Securely close jar. Shake, roll, or otherwise agitate for 10-15 minutes. Make a game of it with your child (mine preferred that I do most of the work). The cream will change first to whipped cream and will be very thick. Keep shaking. All of the sudden, it will change to butter; you will hear the change first (since by this time you have stopped watching the jar while you shake it). Keep shaking a few more times. Pour liquid into another container if you want fresh buttermilk. Rinse butter in jar under cold water; rinse several times. Empty onto a plate and press (use the bottom of a spoon). You want to press as much liquid out as possible. Add salt to taste if you like. Enjoy!

One million rosaries for unborn babies

Please join in praying the rosary for an end to the surgical and non-surgical killing of unborn human persons. The Saint Michael the Archangel Organization is registering the number of rosaries that people are promising to say on May 1-3, 2009. Today, their site shows 27,374 registrations, and they are trying to get to one million.

Repeal of "conscience clause"

On CNN.com today: "Christian doctors' group protests rolling back 'conscience' rule." The Bush administration reinforced a 30-year-old law in which health care professionals are protected from providing services that violate their morals, including performing abortions and providing contraception.

However, the Obama administration is expected to reverse the rule, opening up thousands of health care workers to potential religious discrimination.

Butter and Bread

I found lovely cream and milk that is as close to raw as can be in a store from Farmers' All Natural Creamery. Boy, is it tasty! It's from grass-fed cows, organic, non-homogenized, VAT pasteurized, no added hormones. The milk comes with cream on the top.

Needless to say, the milk and cream don't last all that long. Since the cream only came in a quart size (more than we can use in the ~5-6 days that it lasts), I decided to make butter with Little One. She found it mostly fun, although Dad and I did most of the shaking. It turned out great!

Next we made brown Irish soda bread. Quite easy to make and pretty good. My husband refused to taste it and commented on its density.

Fun projects to do with the Little One. She even chose to wear her apron - all on her own!