So I don't have a particular dish I serve on this day.
No special foods to represent Our Lady's purity, or anything like that. But…how does BBQ pulled pork sound?
For breakfast after Mass we had bacon and chocolate chip pancakes. Since I was clean out of my baking mix, I whipped up a batter but lost my concentration at some point. The pancakes were okay, but not great.
So I took the leftover batter and made it into dough for sandwich buns! It was your basic sweet dough recipe — just add yeast, warm water, more salt, and more flour (in this case, white whole wheat).
Hence was born the bbq pulled pork supper idea, a feast indeed for such a cold night… to think that a few days ago it was almost 70*!
I got a pork roast out of the freezer — I use boneless shoulder roast — and defrosted it a bit in the microwave, then roasted in a covered dish, salted, with a bit of water, for an hour at 350*, then two hours at 200*. Dee–lectable. Pour off the fat, put the juices in a pan to reduce, and pull the meat apart.
When you have the lime out, and you have some simple syrup on hand, and there's a can of club soda in the pantry, and it's a feast day, well –HECK!
How about a little cocktail? Yes! Please! A little Jack Daniels and that sounds lovely!
Happy Feast Day! Ice cream for dessert! Chocolate sauce if you want it! With whipped cream!
If you would like to read more about the Immaculate Conception, go here.
Tina says
I'm learning so much from you and love this blog. Look at it daily. We are learning to practice waiting for Jesus in our house and holding off on Christmas for now. . . I just have to ask you – do you ever get a nap? You are so busy!!! Also, do you have to follow a recipe when you "add" things to bread recipes? I make bread a lot, but never try to wing it. Can you advise?
Decadent Housewife says
A favourite verse – beautiful food. The bread looks delicious!
Kate says
Love your blog! Love your reverence for God and your emphasis on spiritual things over material things. However, I am concerned that you, as a Catholic, place a higher value on man's ideas than on God's Word. Listen to the Bible's truths, not the stories of men. The Bible clearly states in many passages that Christ was the only perfect human. Mary was not. She was full of grace, yes, but so are all believers. Remember Jesus' words in Luke 11:28 after a woman called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." Jesus replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Already Jesus knew people would elevate his mother to a cult status, which only serves to distract people from Christ, our TRUE Redeemer. Let's not worship Mary, pray to her, create stories about her life, or do any other activities that take us away from God's Word. The Bible is the only source of truth. If we correctly remember Mary, we remember that she felt unworthy to be the mother of her Lord. And rightly so. She was unworthy, just as we are unworthy to be called by God. But God does it anyway because of the depth and richness of his unfathomable love. The only way for God to die for our sins was to become a human. The only way for him to come to us in a way we could receive him was as a baby. The only way for this was with a human mother. It does not follow that the mother had to be perfect. That is a human idea, and it limits God's ability to allow a sinful human the privilege of being part of God's plan of Salvation.May God bless you, Leila, and lead you to a true understanding of His Word, as found in the Bible.
Sue says
I am completely in awe that you took a botched pancake recipe and made those delicious looking sandwich buns! You are amazing!Thanks for the link.
Leila says
Tina — remember, I don't have babies any more 🙂 and I didn't do the bookcases today, I only showed you pictures today :)I can't tell you about the bread right now, too busy 😉 — but look in the categories under bread and see if you get the hang of it. Think about how a dinner roll recipe calls for a lot of the same things that are in pancake batter…you just need it to have yeast and be the right consistency, which amounts to adding more flour…another time we'll talk about it. Meanwhile, just try it…to make bread, you just need yeast, liquid, flour, salt — and "other stuff" if you want…all mixed to the right consistency…DD– thanks, O mighty bread baker!Kate — don't get your knickers in a twist. I appreciate your blessing very much — you are the best.This is what most Christians in most places in the world have believed from the very beginning. My authority comes from the one whom Jesus told HAD the authority. It's all absolutely based on the Bible (which those in authority gave us – it's all about authority, you know ;):Luke 1:45-55: (Pull quote: henceforth all generations shall call me blessed!)My soul magnifies the Lord,And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,For behold, HENCEFORTH ALL GENERATIONS SHALL CALL ME BLESSED>For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.He has shown strength with His arm:He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.He has put down the mighty from their thrones,and exalted those of low degree.He has filled the hungry with good things;and the rich He has sent empty away.He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. AmenDid you check the link? Love you! XOXO
Leila says
And here I thought I'd be taken to task for the DRINK, not the FEAST. 🙂
Sophie says
Wow, what a coincidence! We had pulled barbecue pork for dinner as well. Weird.
Meredith says
You are living dangerously with this post, Leila!I set the table for a feast but we ended up having peanut butter sandwiches on the way out the door. Ah well, at least we got out the door in time!
Decadent Housewife says
Leila,There's an award for you over at DD.Get up off the floor, 'tis I who "worships" you. Didn't you read what I did to that batch of raisin dough?
Barb says
Those buns look great! The size that my dh would appreciate – very manly. I know I have sesame seeds in the cabinet just waiting to be used. Love the recipes, too. I still have several pounds of pork to use up – adding a ketchup-based sauce to it along with buns would make my kids very happy.And hey, about the pies – didn't you say that one can never had too many pies?
Pippajo says
Just reading about this meal made me tired, I can't imagine making it all! But I guess that's what makes it a feast, food-wise. Everything looked wonderful and I agree that homemade potato wedges/fries/chips are worlds better than anything you can get in a paper container!Now, see, when I hear lime, club soda, and what was it? oh yes, simple syrup, I think rum, mint, MOJITOS! But then I like girly drinks like that (I'm rather a lightweight in the liquor department). What kind of drink does the JD make it? Or is that just a house special?
Leila says
Pippajo — I thought of you! And you know I love mojitos. But NO MINT!!! And I did not go shopping for this meal…I used what I had. I'll ask my husband what it's called… he used to bartend in college…and if it doesn't have a name, let's name it. That means you'll have to make yourself one first :)It was very refreshing and tasty, and I didn't miss the mint as much as I thought I would. Sometimes I sub whiskey for rum in drinks (this makes me sound like such a toper — I mean that for my quarterly cocktail I sometimes don't have rum handy) — and I really like it.However, I think it keeps me awake. Talking maybe a tablespoon and a half of JD…still.Meredith — Life is short. The darkness gathers. Let's be ourselves no matter what. Oh, you meant saying that I like oven fries better than French fries — and this after lunch at 5 Guys the day before — let the battle begin!!
Suki says
Wait, are you saying that there's a 5 Guys near home now?!
Anne R Triolo says
lol, so I made pancakes for breakfast yesterday too, and mine came out…a little more than weird.I am usually a VERY GOOD pancake maker. I am known for it in my family. However, Jack was having a fussy morning (again) and wouldn't quit screaming at me and pulling ingredients off the counter while I worked and I got a bit distracted. I kept forgetting if I was doubling the recipe or not so I ended up NOT doubling the recipe. Mostly. I forgot when I added the butter so I used 4 instead of 2 tbs of butter and then when I was adding the salt…gulp. So there was supposed to be 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 tbs of sugar. I added my 1/2 tsp of salt (eye balling) and then continued to eye ball 2 tbs of SALT. I tried to scoop it out, but I'd already added the milk. We still ate them, but they were very salty and greesey. :PI'll have to try this pulled pork thing. John would love that.
Crafty P says
Leila- that is one beautiful feast. A true feast day should always include guacamole! yum!!!I was reflecting on the beauty of yesterday's feast today and remembered that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with GOD! As He most certainly can do anything, He could most definitely preserve the Mother of God from all stain of sin! amen!
Alice says
Somehow, I never did get pictures of the party we threw, but I did get a picture of the cake! And then blogged a long and rambling rant about Advent, Christmas, everything wrong with grad school, and the party– at which your beet cake was highly praised.http://woolnest.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/advent-and-make-this-cake/Your dinners always look so tasty! Even when mine taste good, I have a hard time getting the pictures to look appetizing.
Barbara says
I followed links to your blog a few times before I looked closely at the side bar pictures. Then one day I realized that your Rosie was my boys' music teacher until she moved away to get married! What a small world!I still smile thinking of the final concert when the barbershop group dedicated its last song to her (something about "Why Did You Have to Go?"). When it was time to begin (Rosie was conducting), one young man stepped forward (I think the rest were humming) and began talking about how this was about her. It was a sensation! He stepped forward and she stepped back (several times), clearly shocked, but smiling. It was priceless.Anyway, just wanted you to know I made your buttermilk baking mix and I love having it on hand! I've made biscuits four times in the past month. I hadn't been used to winging it with baked goods, so just eyeballing the milk and patting the dough instead of rolling have been big time savers for me. My family is also pleased. Thanks!