Birthday dinner!

Happy birthday to the husband today! We'll call him "Tunes" here since he likes to play guitar and it seems like a manly enough nickname. :)
For his birthday I gave him three options and he went for the butternut squash and pasta, which surprised me. He chose well!

1 medium butternut squash cut into 1 inch cubes

1 bag of whole wheat egg noodles

2 cups of milk

4 tablespoons of butter

4 tablespoons of flour

1 slice of provolone

Parmesan cheese

Breadcrumbs

Rosemary

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Toss squash in salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary. Roast in 425 degree oven on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil for 30 mins or until tender. You'll have to turn the pieces over twice or so. Cook the pasta and drain. Make white sauce. Melt butter on medium low heat. Mix in flour and cook for a few mins. Add milk and cook on low until thickened. Take off heat and add in provolone. Stir well. Grease a 9x11 casserole dish. Put pasta in the casserole. Place squash over pasta. Pour sauce over everything. Top with breadcrumbs and a generous amount of Parmesan. Heat in 400 degree oven for 10 mins or until cheese is melted! Serve warm.

We had this meal with roasted onions and garlic. Roasting is amazing. I had never done it before.

Desert was great! "Tunes" requested cinnamon buns. I used chai spices on one batch. The blue icing was hazelnut flavored and the green was butter flavored. I think using flavorings other than vanilla really helps this plain icing. Next time I won't color it though.

I made this with the scraps that were left over.

This week's menu

This week's menu flip flops meat and vegetarian meals to save money.

Monday- chicken wings, pumpkin soup, and brown rice.
Tuesday- spinach and onion quiche
Wednesday- salmon alfredo
Thursday- butternut squash pasta
Friday- tuna risotto

I'll probably post pictures of the meals for you.

Attitudes and headscarves

"She wore a headscarf, but her attitude was just the same."

My sister was just telling me a story about a girl in her class who converted to Islam. Even though outwardly this girl appeared different, the way she behaved in class remained the same. She was reportedly rude and disruptive in class the whole way through despite her change in religion.
Now, I'll be the first to admit, changing your way of life takes time. Some of us struggle the most with what comes out of our mouth. For this girl it may have been easier to make a wardrobe change than an attitude change. I could understand that. However, there is another way to look at it. Maybe she wasn't converting to Islam because of an internal change. What if she was converting because Islam supported modesty in a way that she respected and yearned for?


This is where the Western church has been failing our women. Since the 1960's, churches all across the board (excluding the Amish and Old Order Mennonites of course) have been placing modesty on the back burner. Up until Vatican II it was imperative for women to have a headcovering and their shoulders covered in a Catholic church. After Vatican II, the church did not say headcovering was discouraged. On the contrary, I think the comment that is republished time and again that "headcoverings were not being discussed" is the simple truth. They weren't going to talk about it because they thought it was a moot point. Headcoverings are Biblical and traditional, and although they shouldn't be a stumbling block that keeps someone away from God, they should be encouraged. But this lack of information was interpreted as "the mantilla has been retired."  The rest is history.

A symbol of patriarchy? No, my personal decision:

I made the decision to wear a headscarf after reading 1 Corinthians 11. I feel the scripture is fairly clear that women should don headcoverings when praying or prophesying in public. Although others consider the verse that calls us to pray without ceasing and concludes we should veil without ceasing (see Anabaptists) I have not come to that conclusion just yet.


In my opinion, in 1 Cor. 11 Paul says that the headcovering is a symbol of woman's place in creation. She is under the authority of man who is under the authority of Christ. For those of you who are Christians but are wincing at that past statement, I understand where you're coming from. You think of discrimination against women, chauvinism, and abuse. Yes, in a fallen world those things happen (a lot), but I believe as a response to this we women should not strive to take the same place as men in God's plan for the church. Women and men are different and thus have different roles. It isn't that men are better; it's that they are different. Many people don't buy the nature not nurture argument, but I do. Do you think it plausible that monkey/humans would jump out of the jungle with the male saying to the female, "Now you're a girl, go do something feminine while I do something masculine"? Could the idea of femininity really have evolved in every society on earth independently? Ok, I realize this is going on a tangent... let's just say. I'm a supporter of femininity, and--

Yes, we should be submissive to our husbands. (Eph. 5:22)
Yes, men are to be in the authority positions in church (1 Cor 14: 34)

Does that make women less? No! Does it make us useless? Of course not.
Can modesty be a tool for evangelism? I think it can. Don't you think many women are yearning for modesty in this over exposed society of ours? You bet they are!

Do you think I've gone overboard? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Fashion inspired by the Renaissance

I think the dress in this painting is intriguing. It looks as though the sleeves are removable. What a great idea to take a dress from summer to winter! This is just a teaser. More about fashion later.

The name of the week

Bridget
Source: Anglicized Irish
Variations: Irish- Brighid, Bríd; English- Brigid; Germanic/ Scandinavian- Brigitta, French- Brigitte, Finnish- Piritta, Welsh- Ffraid, Polish- Brygida.
Meaning: "exalted one"
Nickname: Biddy, Britta, Britt

Bridget is a wonderful place to start off this series. It is a name that has history and mystery.

In Irish this name is Brighid or Bríd. Both of which would be pronounced like "breed." Originally Brighid was a Celtic goddess. She is found all over the old Celtic world. She was the goddess of fire and poetry. In Roman Britain she was referred to as Brigantia. Representations of the goddess took an Athena-like form.


Christianity came to Ireland in a unique way. Irish traditions were not completely swept away from Roman traditions. Instead, the original Irish Christians took a lot of the culture with them when they converted. No one knows whether or not there really was a Saint Brigid. The life of Saint Brigid that survives has many stories that sound like they were influenced by the ancient pagan traditions. In these tales, Brigid displays her sainthood through hanging her clothing out to dry on a rainbow and other miracles. One thing that is certain. She was seen as a saint of the home and the abbey. The miracles that are attributed to her early life have to do with churning, milking, sewing and other household duties.


Brigid is thought to have founded a double monestary at Kildare in 470. Double monestaries are interesting. They would be built like a typical monestary for men, but they would have either a divided church with two entrances (one side for monks and one for nuns) that would be served by one priest; or they may have two separate chapels for the nuns and monks. Even though Brigid would have been the abbess of her nuns, there would have been a male authority in charge of the monks and essentially the nuns as well. Kildare Abbey became a great center of learning. The original abbey was destroyed in the 12th century, which probably means it was sacked Vikings. The following is a picture of the church buildings that stand on the spot today. By my approximation it is a late Medieval building. The abbey was again closed under the reign of Elizabeth I.



Even though much of what is known about Brigid from the lives is most likely legend, I greatly admire the Irish instinct to take their culture and traditions and rework them in a God-centered way. I don't think her pagan past makes Brigid unacceptable. Instead, I see evidence of enthusiastic conversion on the part of the Irish. Even the old gods must be converted to Christianity.

If you want to know more about St. Brigid here are a few links.
St. Brigid feast traditions from Fish Eaters
Catholic Encyclopedia
Information about Kildare Abbey
Behind the Name info
Not to be confused with St. Bridget/Brigitta of Sweden

French Onion Soup

One of my husband's all time favorite dinners is French Onion soup. I made this soup in the crockpot and it was so easy. The best thing about it is that it is a very flexible soup. I didn't really follow the recipe I had, so it's kind of my own and I don't mind posting it.

4 or 5 medium yellow onions or 7 small yellow onions
14 oz or so of beef broth or chicken broth
1/2 c. dry red wine
At least a slice of baguette or other small round bread rolls per person (I used three small slices of bread per bowl. We love bread.)
Gruyere, Emmentaler, Jarlsberg or swiss cheese. Mozzarella may be used to make it more kid friendly.

Slice the onions from pole to pole. Slice each half into wedges. Heat a large frying pan on medium with a splash of olive oil. Cook the onions in olive oil until softened. Transfer to a medium crockpot making sure to scrape all of the tasty burnt bits into the pot. Fill the crockpot with the wine and broth until it is between half and 3/4 of the way full. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hrs or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
Ladle soup into ovenproof dishes like ramekins. Cover soup with slices of french bread or something similar. (I used homemade whole wheat rolls that I sliced longways into thirds.) Top bread with grated cheese. The traditional cheese used in this recipe is gruyere. However, if gruyere is not exactly budget friendly you have more options. Emmentaler is a great substitute with a similar taste to Gruyere. I have used Jarlsberg before as well. Both can be on the pricey side. Swiss cheese is what I used and it is much more affordable.

Adaptations:
Kids- Mozzarella can be used to make the dish more kid friendly. You may also want to lower the wine to 1/4 cup for the little ones or substitute a splash of real grape juice.
Pregnancy- I wouldn't put in the wine at all. The alcohol might get cooked off, but you can never be too careful. A good substitute for red wine in recipes is a good strong grape juice. However, it I wouldn't use much in this soup. It has more taste as a savory soup and the sweetness of certain juices might combat that.

The cultural and religious significance of this dish:
Lent- This dish would make for a great Lenten meal. You can substitute vegetable broth if you are very serious about avoiding meat.
France- Of course, it is obvious that this dish hails from France. There are many versions of onion soup in Europe. For some reason this one is the only one I know of that has made it into the American repertoire. I would suggest researching other onion soups if you have other ingredients you would like to use.
Humility- It's a great example of how wonderful food can be made from very humble ingredients. Use this meal as a way to emphasize how things that are simple can be comforting and satisfying.