Stars n' Stripes Salute - St Vince de Paul - Irish blessing/recipe

Today is Saturday and I'll be leaving for Rita's in an hour. We are having a party today to celebrate Monica's citizenship. I got her an ornament for her Christmas tree this year - her first Christmas as a citizen - its a European glass Chris Radzko ornament shaped like a Christmas tree and painted with the stars and stripes.
Rita and I split the cost for this 'do' and several guests are bringing appetizers. We are not having a meal. Just snacks and the all American dessert - an apple pie - beverages will be spiced hot cider, wine iced tea and whatever people bring themselves.
I told Rita to make a list of what she wants me to do to set up, clean, prepare platters etc. I can't wait! I'm also bringing my slow cooker to keep the cider warm and delivering Rita and Dave's souvenirs from Cape Cod.
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I recently joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Its an international Society with the headquarters in Paris, France. People call us for help and then we go out in twos and visit them in their homes. We have helped people with rent, utility bills, gas money, grocery money and helped one person have their car repaired.  I just love doing this work. I've never been happier. It is a religious order of lay people and we follow a Rule. The people I work with are so generous and its an honor to serve the friends of St Vincent who contact us.
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today its raining so I chose this Irish blessing for today:

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

 Make a pot of tea and enjoy it with the recipe below: 

Crunchy Apple & Blackberry Crumble
Contributed by Hartson Dowd

"In autumn the hedgerows are bursting with juicy, plump blackberries. Apples are the perfect flavor partner to blackberries, and now is the time when local varieties are in season. Crumbles are a classic and so easy to make. Here is one to welcome in the autumn!"

Ingredients:
For the filling:
2lb Bramley or Granny Smith cooking apples
1lb blackberries
6oz brown sugar
2 lemons

For the topping
8oz plain flour
6oz butter
2oz brown sugar
4oz muesli or a mixture of oats, seeds and chopped nuts

Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice over the apple and mix well. This not only adds flavour but prevents the freshly peeled apples from discoloring.
3. Layer the apples, blackberries, and sugar in a large pie dish
4. Place the flour in a large bowl and then rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs - leave a few lumps of butter so that the topping is not too fine. Add the muesli or oat/seed/nut mixture and the sugar and mix through.
5. Use a spoon to sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the fruit. Bake for 45 minutes or until the fruit is cooked and bubbling juices seep through the topping.
6. Cool for a few minutes and then serve with custard or fresh cream.
Serves 6 to 8

Back in the saddle again...

Nearly a week and a half back home. Work has picked up and I've been really busy at it.

Now that I understand myself I've found that it makes some things easier but its taking time for it all to sink in and I wish I were further along. But I love my life now and not speaking the language is okay - all part of the whole picture.

Last Sunday Faye and I went apple picking, Mike couldn't pick apples due to his fall allergies - but joined us afterward for venison chili. It turned out pretty good. Mike and Faye liked it but I think that I added a bit too much salt. Yesterday, I made a deep dish apple pie with the granny smith apples I picked and mixed in a couple golden delicious. It is yummy and the house smells soooooo good :)
Today's Irish blessing is in honor of St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day was yesterday.
 
God bless the cow that gives us milk
God bless the lamb that gives us wool
God bless the hen that gives us eggs
God bless the pig that pays the rent
God bless the horse that we may ride
God bless the cat that catches mice
God bless the dog that herds the sheep
God bless the geese for our feather beds
God bless the lark for her morning song
God bless the swan upon the pond.
God bless all friends of fur and feather
And St. Francis protect them in all weather.
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today's Irish recipe -

Traditional Irish Toffee - Yellowman
"Did you treat your Mary-Ann
To dulse and yellow man
At the old Lammas Fair at Ballycastle-oh?"

The Lammas Fair, or as Mr. John McAuley wrote in his famous song ‘"the Oul' Lammas Fair", takes place on the last Monday and Tuesday in August in Ballycastle, Antrim, Northern Ireland. The town also had a vibrant weekly market day which was founded in 1612, though it is virtually non existent today. The Lammas Fair is also famed for having an 'unbroken history', having taken place annually for the past 300 years but it origins go back to the legends and myths of Ireland. McAuley died in 1937.The Ould Lammas Fair
At the ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle long ago
I met a pretty coleen who set me heart a-glow
She was smiling at her daddy buying lambs from Paddy Roe
At the ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle - O!
Sure I seen her home that night
When the moon was shining bright
From the ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle - O!

======= CHORUS =======
At the ould Lammas Fair boys were you ever there
Were you ever at the fair in Ballycastle - O!
Did you treat you Mary Ann
To some Dulse and Yellow man
At the ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle - O!
=====================

In Flander's field afar while resting from the War
We drank Bon Sante to the Flemish lassies O!
But the scene that haunts my memory is kissing Mary Ann
Her pouting lips all sticky from eating Yellow Man
As we passed the silver Margy and we strolled along the strand
From the ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle - O!
=====================
CHORUS
=====================
There's a neat little cabin on the slopes of fair Knocklayde
It's lit by love and sunshine where the heather honey's made
With the bees ever humming and the children's joyous call
Resounds across the valley as the shadows fall
Sure I take my fiddle down and my Mary smiling there
Brings back a happy mem'ry of the Lammas Fair
=====================
CHORUS
=====================
In any event, Yellow Man Toffee was definitely always served at the old Lammas Fair at Ballycastle in Co. Antrim. As for the dulse - that's seaweed. One has to assume that the dulse was served as a savory before the sweet?
For these taste buds, we sure hope so!


Ingredients:
1 heaping teaspoon butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 cups corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar.

Method:
1. Melt butter in a sauce pan; coat the inside of the pan with the melted butter.
2. Add sugar and syrup and then the vinegar. Stir over low heat until the sugar and syrup have melted together.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer without stirring.Test by dropping a little into cold water to see if it sets.
4. Add the baking powder which will make the mixture foam up.
5. Stir well and then turn into a greased pan. Cut into squares.
Toffee as it used to be made: In the old days, the mixture would have been turned out onto a slab and pulled until it became pale yellow. When it hardened, it was broken into pieces with a small hammer.

Touring Lexington-Concord and Boston - photo album 2010

This was the last day of our vacation and we began with breakfast at the hotel. I had a cheese omelet, bacon and a biscuit. Yummy, indeed.
The shuttle picked us up early to transport us to the motor coach who took us to Lexington-Concord. Being a history buff, I was really looking forward to this and our tour guide was really wonderful.

First stop was Harvard Yards A statue of Charles Sumner is outside the gates:

This is a statue if Senator Charles Sumner the one who was caned on the floor of the US Senate May 22, 1856 during debate over emmancipation of the slaves.

The entry gates





Memorial Library donated to Harvard by widow of Harry Elkins Widener after he died in the sinking of the Titanic along with their son because they could not swim. She asked that his name be engraved at the top and that every graduate of Harvard be taught to swim.

 

plaque inside the gates that lead into Harvard Yards



Chinese dragon stele between Widener Library and Boylston Hall, which was given by Chinese alumni to Harvard in 1936 in recognition of Harvard’s longstanding ties with the country.

 

The statue of three lies. It is not John Harvard but the likeness of a student that posed for the sculptor. The plaque states that John Harvard founded the University. Actually it was founded by Massachusettes Colony but only named after John Harvard after he donated a library of books to it. The date for the founding is wrong. The school was started in 1636, not 1638.



 Our next stop was Lexington and Concord. In our tour we learned that the homes had a black stripe of paint around the top of the chimney if the family there was loyal to the king. To this day there are many chimney's with that stripe still...The photos below are ones I took using my daugher's camera. Look at the beautiful skies. The weather was perfect all throughout this trip.

A statue of Captain John Parker the leader of the minute men

Lexington Green - where the minute men were shot and killed by British troops.

The minute men and militia lined up from a spot marked by this boulder to a spot marked by the obliesk

    



The minute men waited at this tavern for the British troops to arrive.



statue dedicated to the minute men.

The old North Bridge - site of battle of Concord


The North Bridge, often colloquially called the Old North Bridge, across the Concord River in Concord, Massachusetts, is a historical site in the Battle of Concord, the first battle day in the Revolutionary War.
The bridge is located off Monument Street in Concord. It spans the Concord River 0.5 miles northeast from the start of the Concord River at the confluence of the Assabet River and the Sudbury River at Egg Rock.

part of American poet James Russell Lowell’s poem

After this we went on a cruise of Boston Harbor. We sailed from long wharf.

a view of long wharf

another view of long wharf



a tour boat called the Rita - seen at sea

 

a tour boat called the Rita - seen docked






Navy Yard




The USS Constitution - "Old Ironsides"


Three views of Boston's Skyline as seen from the harbor:

view 1



view 2



view 3

The last leg of our tour was a trolley ride through Boston:

Fanuiel Hall

all that we could see from the trolley of Beacon Hill

tired feet after the 7 1/2 hour tour of Boston, Lexington & Concord.

At the end of the day we returned to our rooms and showered and dressed for dinner. We had reservations at Legal Seafood. Here is a picture of our wait person shuking a lobster. She did this for Paula who ordered a lobster dinner. I had swordfish. It was wonderful. The perfect end to a wonderful trip. Cape Cod and the tour of Boston was more than I imagined it would be. Truly charming. The best part was the great people we met. We were given tips where to eat and what to look for. Warmly looked after by the locals. :)

 

Goodbye Cape Cod - Hello Boston - Sept. 22, 2010

Today we checked out of our hotel and said goodbye to Cape Cod. Here are views of the bay from the hotel along with the sign post that I liked so well. Reminds me of the one the soldiers made in the movie *MASH* .

 

We drove up to Plymouth. They have the 'rock' displayed on the shore behind a fence and with a monument built up over the top. We took quite a few pictures and I tried to select the best ones for this blog.



 Views of the sea from Plymouth. Just look at the beautiful weather...again.

The monument - directly over the rock - and a statue of a Pilgrim mother erected by the direct descendents of the Pilgrims...                                           

Here I am under the monumet marker and here is a photo of what remains of the rocky bluff where the Mayflower landed. The bluff was blasted away over the years to build up the area and someone thought to keep a bolder from the blasting for history. That is what is displayed inside the monument. It has the date 1620 carved into the stone.

Here is a picture of the Mayflower II - a replica of the original ship.

I bought chocolate fudge at a candy store and the vendor recommended that we eat at "Isaacs" up the street. It was a wonderful suggestion. I had fish and chips and again we asked for and got a table by the window with an ocean view. 

We left Plymouth and drove back to Logan airport to turn in our rental car. Then took a shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express where we had rooms booked for the next two days.  In the afternoon, we checked in and showered. I wrote in my journal and Paula hemmed the sleeves of the jacket she'd bought to wear to the theater that night. We didn't have time to find a nice sit down restaurant so we ended up having BLT's at the Boston Deli across the street from our hotel. Here we are and I must say the sandwiches were really good!



a shot of the deli from the sidewalk.




inside the deli :) The owner was a "Godfather" fan - posters all over the place - and by looking at him he'd been in a fight....

After that we changed into evening outfits and left to go see "Wicked" playing at the Boston Opera House. I took this picture of the sign outside but the light changed and we had to cross the street so my shot was nearly lost and blurry too. You can just make out the bottom of the word 'Wicked' at the top left of the shot and an image of the witch on the lower right......

The play was wonderful. Our usher told us that we were fortunate to be seeing the original broadway cast as well. It was a great production. The special effects were amazing and the actors sooooo talented. I so admire talented people. They bring such joy to us.

Falmouth and Woods Hole - Cape Cod 2010

This morning I took the opportunity to go to daily Mass again - a luxury I hadn't anticipated but took advantage of :)  We decided not to tour Martha's Vineyard at all and instead to really tour the rest of the Cape.

We saw the Oceanographic Institute and Aquarium at Woods Hole. Their work is fascinating. Dr. Ballard led the expedition from there that discovered the Titanic and laid the marker on the stern of the ship that honors those who were lost that day. 


Lunch was in Woods Hole at Captain Kidd's. I had a lobster roll and iced tea. I can't get over how wonderful all the food is here. Not one single disappointing meal. This is a shot of the restaurant from across the street then views of the Woods Hole Marina from our table. That is a real gull who let me get very close. I was surprised at that.

We shopped and I got this picture of a compass marker embedded in the sidewalk. Got some postcards too  :)

We stopped at the Nobska Light at Woods Hole and took pictures then did some shopping in Falmouth as well.

There is also a winery in Falmouth "The Cape Cod Winery". I bought two bottles of wine there. One I gave to Becca and Nick when I picked up the cat yesterday. The other one I plan on giving to Rita and David.

Dinner this day was at "The Skipper" in South Yarmouth. I ordered steamers. This was something new for me. They are soft shell clams served in a bowl by the dozen. I had one and a half dozen steamers for supper. :)  You have to peel off the covering off of the foot and holding onto the foot you swish the de-shelled clam in hot water to wash away the sand. Then you drop them into the drawn butter and when that container is full you eat them with crusty bread. Delicious!

It was a lovely day all together. A nice blend of science, touring and good food!!