And the Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and nameday of my grandmother and daughter, both Anita, me, middle name Anne, and my mother-in-law’s confirmation name, so she can come, too.
I took the three youngest to the grocery store to get them. It was like a visit to the aquarium. Only you get to pick something from the tank and they’ll steam it for you and you can eat it. So . . . also different from the aquarium. But they were about $10 each, which, for a special occasion, was doable for us. And I didn’t have to cook them!
Other recent feasts that we celebrated by having dessert and talking about the saint over dinner were:
St. Mary Magdalene:
St. Kateri Tekakwitha:
Now for this week’s questions . . .
1. What’s your favorite thing on YouTube?
I like a lot of stuff on YouTube. Blythe’s video is on there. The swimming pool submarine and leaf-blower hovercraft that my dad made with the kids are on there. I’m even on there.
But it’s not even close. This is my favorite thing on YouTube:
Punch that cougar in the face!
What’s that in the weeds? It’s a baby. Awesome.
2. Who taught you to drive?
My beloved grandfather gave me my first lessons. And then my dad put the finishing touches on. He thought I should know how to drive a stick shift, so my first car was a manual transmission.
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| not my exact car, but it was a silver Ford Festiva |
Learning to drive a stick shift was SO frustrating! In the middle there, I was utterly convinced that it was impossible and could never be done. I remember stalling over and over again trying to get over the little hump in the driveway at my parents’ house and finally just leaving the car there sticking out into the street and storming into the house in tears. I threw the keys at my dad and ran into my room. Instead of pointing out how unpleasant and unreasonable that was, he gently talked me back into the car and I was eventually able to get it into the garage. And, somehow, after that, it was pretty easy.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere. Perseverance? The forest for the trees? Picking your parenting battles?
It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure lesson. You get to pick.
My favorite thing is what I like to call “Pantry Challenge,” where I haven’t planned ahead and I stand there in front of the pantry and fridge and come up with something crazy for dinner. I do like a challenge.
But my favorite recipe is probably my grandfather Pop’s (the same grandfather as the above driving lessons) German potato dumpling soup. We call it Spatzen Kartoffel Zuppa. But I’m sure Sophie can tell us whether that is actually German. Probably it’s not.
I have such fond memories of cutting the little chunks of spazele dough into the soup with him as a little girl. Every time I make it now I flash right back to the kitchen at my grandparents’ house.
I don’t even have the recipe written down anywhere, but it goes something like this . . .
Dosé Family Spatzen Kartoffel Zuppa:
Into a 4 quart Dutch Oven or stock pot half-full of salted water, put a stick of butter, 2-3 medium onions cut into medium sized chunks, and 4-6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Make spatzele dough:
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Dash pepper
Put dough, one dollop (a cup or so) at a time onto a floured wooden cutting board with a handle, and cut off a little chunk at a time, with a wooden spatula, into the boiling soup. It cooks the dough and the extra flour thickens it.
It is super duper tasty comfort food.
4. Are you a hugger or a non-hugger? Why?
I am reflexivly a hugger. When I meet someone, usually I lean in for a hug. I hope I haven’t been weirding everyone out.
5. Where do you pray best?
I pray best first thing in the morning and while moving. I have tried and tried to be a good prayer while sitting quietly, but I still have a lot of trouble staying focused in that situation. I do love sitting before the Blessed Sacrament, and there I have a little more luck with not letting my mind wander.
But I do my best praying on a run, out in God’s creation. Even though I’m thinking of a thousand different things, somehow, in that environment, it feels like a conversation with God, and I’m always able to bring it back to my petitions and intentions and thanksgivings.
6. When is the last time you saw/spoke to your grandparents?
My other three grandparents have passed away. The only last memory that comes to mind is Pop (my dad’s dad). He was in hospice care at his home (which was such a beautiful thing) at the end of his life. I was in high school, and I would come over sometimes and read to him. Books, but mostly my essays from school. He would ask me to read them to him, it didn’t seem odd at the time. I don’t think he was just humoring me. He really did have a great interest in pretty much everything.
I had been there the day before we got the call that he had died, and the immediate family went over to the house. I remember being grateful that I was able to see him again, and be together with the family, even if I had missed his actual death. I guess it was like an Irish wake, but I had never heard of one of those.
But it just seemed like the natural thing to do.
I’ve tried to allow death to be a part of my kids’ lives, at least a little bit. I wrote about it here:
LITTLE KIDS AND DEATH: HOW TAKING MY KIDS TO A TRADITIONAL FUNERAL DIDN’T FREAK THEM OUT
Okay, sorry, back to happy, back to happy!
Anna at knit one, yarn over. Post to check out:
Next week’s questions for Anna and Patty and you are . . .
1. When driving, are you more likely to listen to the radio, to CDs or an iPod, or nothing at all?
2. Do you prefer window or aisle?
Next week’s installment will go live at 10pm Pacific Saturday night, and will be open until 10pm Wednesday night.
So, please, answer this week’s questions for yourself in the comments. If you have a blog, answer the questions there, link back to this post, and link your blog post up below. For bonus points, you can even tag a couple other bloggers so THEY can play along too! So fun.
But always remember, in Answer Me This . . . there are no rules, and the points don’t matter.
From what the recipe described it should probably be called "Spätzle Kartoffel Suppe" (Spätzle are that scraped dough), Kartoffel is potato and Suppe is soup.
Greetings from Germany!
Thank you! I knew someone would know. :0)
I love soup! Love, love, love it! I will try that recipe. 🙂
Kendra, this was so fun! Thanks for tagging me last week. I hope to play along again sometime.
Your grandmother is beautiful and so classy with her pearls 🙂 And the baby is precious!
That picture of Lulu with your grandmother is a treasure.
I gave up on driving stick because I kept stalling out on a hill in front of a bunch of boy scouts and they were laughing at me. So awkward…
You forgot a VERY important feast day…St Camille de Lallis on July 18th also a day of celebration for me and Anita. We walked a long way in Rome to get to the church of St Mary Magdalene when he is entombed and the mother church of his order the Camillians who minister to the sick. He is the patron saint of doctors along with St Luke and also of the sick since he himself suffered with severe leg wounds that wouldn't heal his entire life. He is a bad guy turned good like St Augustine.
Wow those lobsters look fantastic and big. Bet you all enjoyed them. I used to bring them home from my trips to Boston but we had to cook ours. That big old white lobster pot that I gave to you is what we used and I always hated to hear the scream but enjoyed the dinner.
I also had a stick shift for my first car and prayed for green lights so I wouldn't have to start from 1st gear and stall out.
Hi Kendra, I just stopped by to let you know that I nominated you for Most Inspiring Blog award. You can see the post at http://adayinthelifeonthefarm.blogspot.com/2014/07/wow-i-am-honored.html. Thanks for being an inspiration to me.
Hey, thanks Wendy!
Hugs and handshakes are tricky 😀
I always mess up. I shake hands with my American friends and hug the Middle Eastern ones (they usually kiss) 😀
While in Germany it's all about handshaking so when I visited my friend in Greece some years ago and ALL her relatives gave me kisses to both cheeks, I was little shocked 😀
Isn't the world great place? 🙂
Our second son's first middle name is for St. James the Less.
Love the picture of St. Anne, your soup is fantastic, and we miss you all! (from the Ashtons)
Can you share who the artist of the St. Anne painting is?
The artist is unknown. "St. Anne with the Virgin and Child from an indulgence dated May 1519. Manuscript on vellum."
Thank you!