Weekending: Laetare Sunday

The weather was furious here in Northern California this weekend – storms, rain, cold. A good reason to hunker down with the family indoors.  Philip is nearly finished with the new baseboard in Dominic’s room and I made progress on Lydia’s Easter outfit.

Claire made a beehive for Dominic in which he has begun storing honey and Daisy our very cute Labroodle got the idea in her head that she should be eating at the dinner table with us.  I’m a sucker for the cute factor but I had to put my foot down on this one. 🙂

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Feast Day and we had a pretty mellow celebration with a very green supper and green dessert, per Claire’s request.  Spinach quiche, green veggie salad, green fruit salad, and a (non-green) Irish soda bread.  Dinner was followed by more green with mint chip sundaes and green shamrock cookies.  I hope not to see green again for a  few weeks!

simnel cake

Today was Laetare Sunday.  I attempted the Simnel Cake recipe passed on in my last post.  I decided not to line the sides of the springform pan with parchment paper and indeed the cake came away from the sides of the pan just fine and the springform ring popped right off with no trouble.

I found that I needed a lot more almond paste (I would say 2 1/2 cups) and that the amount of dried and candied fruit was a little much (I would suggest 1 cup total between the cherries and fruit peel, plus ¾ C of raisins or currants but not both), but otherwise – YUMMY.  The almond paste was expensive – probably $15 total, but you can make homemade almond paste for a fraction of that.  I plan to try this cake again.  It wasn’t too sweet, perhaps a little dense but not heavy.

Tonight, as Sunday nears Monday, I am grateful for this quiet, slow weekend, green and all. The babies are all with Philip getting their bedtime stories and cozy under covers.

As Sunday nears Monday, I think of the homily at Mass this morning.  There are 3 kinds of healing miracles:  those of the body, those of the mind, and those of the spirit.  I crossed paths this weekend with people who need healing. I am overwhelmed with the suffering of these people set against the calm of my home this weekend.  I have time to attend to them in their pain and I will respond.  I see Christ in their suffering, I see myself, and I see them in their giant uniqueness, beautiful as they strive for answers, as they wait for health and peace.

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