The Unprofitable Servant: Kitchen Sister

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Kitchen Sister

I love to eat and luckily, I also love to cook. Being home on a "Stay-cation" this week has given me some added time to experiment and prepare healthy but tasty dinners for the family. Maybe I'll even get around to posting some photos.

My favorite method of cooking is, without a doubt, grilling. I don't approve of gas grills, at least not for my personal use. The possibility of causing the propane tank to explode is something I'd rather not chance. Plus, the job of filling the tank would fall to the hubby, who has enough problems making sure there is adequate film in the camera for special occasions.

For the second day in a row, the temperatures reached 100 in Philadelphia. Since we don't live on a farm, we don't have the luxury of a summer kitchen. Back in the day (before gas stoves) the family would move the kitchen to a free-standing structure known as the summer kitchen. The purpose of the summer kitchen was to keep the house cooler for sleeping on hot July nights. Even with air conditioning, it's mind-boggling how quickly the stove-top and/or oven can heat up the house.

So, on this second scorching day, it was time to light the grill. We use wood coals on a modified kettle grill with air vents and a vented lid. The wood coals are placed in a metal chimney that has a small barrier or shelf with holes at the bottom of it. The upper portion is filled with coals, while the lower chamber is stuffed with a sheet or two of newspaper. The chimney is set upon some bricks and the newspaper is lit with a lighter. In about 10 minutes or so, you have glowing hot coals ready to be poured into your grill. And you don't have the awful smell of lighter fluid.

We have neighbors that don't like the smoke created when the chimney is lit, so my husband gives a courtesy call so they can close their windows if they choose. On a day like today, their AC was running full-blast but we still gave them a ring. I had some things that had defrosted in the fridge sooner than I'd expected, so we had pork short-ribs and a chicken I picked up from an Amish farmer at the Farmers' Market this past weekend. Both the ribs and the chicken were smothered in a barbecue rub from Frog Park Herbs, who we visit every year at the Kutztown Folk Festival. I set the chicken in a rack that is designed to hold either a roast or, upside down, several racks of ribs. This creates plenty of space between the chicken and the coals so that the skin gets nice and crispy without burning. The ribs were set on the perimeter of the coals and slow-cooked. I added a handful of applewood and hickory woodchips to the hot coals to impart a sweeter flavor to the ribs, and then added my own barbecue sauce before the taking the ribs off the grill.

On a separate but smaller kettle grill, I cooked baby Yukon gold potatoes with fresh onions and garlic. The potatoes and the garlic and onions were from a CSA we joined about a month ago. We never know what vegetables we're getting til a few days before but everything is remarkably fresh and pristine and even when I get something I'm unfamiliar with, the farmer sends a recipe. It's a good way to learn to eat more of a variety of vegetables as well as a way to directly support the family farm. More on that some other time....

I cook with the lid down, but I noticed that the fire, which was initially white-hot, had died down some, so I left the lid open for awhile to stoke up the coals. I think on a day that is so hot and humid, there simply isn't very good airflow to ventilate the coals so you have to tweak it a bit. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, I chopped up Kirby cucumbers (or pickles), juicy red tomatoes and some green onion-tops. I added a little bit of fresh chopped cilantro and a touch of salt and olive oil and then set that aside to make its own juices. There's nothing like sopping up tomato salad in summer with Sarcone's bread. Once the tomato salad was finished, I chopped up some fresh Swiss chard and sauteed it along with the garlic we got from our CSA.

Sometimes when I'm grilling, I take out the Rosary I keep in the pocket of my apron and try to squeeze in a decade or a chaplet. Our kitchen is not air conditioned because our window unit is in the dining room so even if I don't have an opportunity to pray, I offer the sauna I'm soaking in to God in thanksgiving for His bounty.

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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Kitchen Sister

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Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross