Lemony Goodness

Once upon a time, I was a reading teacher. And once upon a time, when I was a teacher, I taught this book to 3rd graders:

Picture credit

In the first story, Julian, his brother Huey, and his dad make a lemon pudding for the boys' mother, but the boys can't stop tasting it. It's a sweet story, but every time I taught it, I thought "Lemon pudding? It can't be that good." I would have found it more believable if the pudding was chocolate. Until today.

Last week at the grocery store, I bought a bag of Meyer lemons just for fun-they were cheap and pretty, so I decided to try them. This evening, I noticed that they were getting a little wrinkly, so I wanted to do something with them before they went bad. And suddenly I remembered Julian and Huey and the irresistible lemon pudding. So I made some of my own. I used this recipe and boy howdy is it good.

I did make a few changes, since I can't ever follow a recipe exactly. I don't have a microplane zester, so I skipped the lemon zest. I also used a little more juice than the recipe calls for, but there was one sad wrinkly lemon that was going to be left out, so I threw that juice in too. Finally, I don't have a fine mesh sieve (I thought I did, but as I was tearing my cabinet apart, I remembered that I don't have one, but my mom does), so I substituted a shield for bacon grease that came with my pots and pans; I've never used it for grease, so no worries there!

It won't officially be ready until tomorrow, since it's supposed to sit for 3 hours, but I did take a tiny taste and I can tell that it's going to take a lot of willpower for me to leave it alone, just like the boys in the story

30 Days of Thankful: Days 22-30

Day 22: (Surprisingly) for not having tutoring today so I could focus on getting school work done before everyone got down on Wednesday. I love E (the kid I tutor), but I really needed that time to do my own work. Also, for friends who will talk me through freak outs about school--also much needed.

Day 23: For seeing my family all together in one place for the first time since August. 3.5 months doesn't sound like a long time, but like I've said before, we're super close, so it seemed like an eternity. Also, for a washer and dryer at the beach house--yay for clean clothes!

Day 24: For all the blessings God has given me, most especially my family, faith, and friends. Also, for Grandma's stuffing. Boy howdy do I love her stuffing.

Day 25: For the absolute luxury of spending the afternoon reading a novel from cover to cover, then walking on the beach alone for an hour. Also, for being able to take my family to the Festival of Lights--Jack loved it and I loved experiencing it with him :)

Day 26: For mornings spent drinking coffee in our pajamas & talking and time spent shopping with Mom and Grandma (at the Walmart and the Dollar Tree--because we know where the quality bargains are ;)) Also, for taking the family to the Cathedral for vigil Mass, which everyone enjoyed. We filled up a whole pew and I was so happy to be in the church I love with the people I love. Also, for Jesus in the Eucharist.

Day 27: For another trip to the beach, catching up with Kate and watching While You Were Sleeping. Also, for ridiculous Youtube videos

Day 28: For a cancelled class, Thanksgiving leftovers and rain.

Day 29: For the ability to write, whether for school or for pleasure. Though I'm super focused for the next 10 days on school writing, after exams are over, I have some small (but fun!) writing projects in the works, which I'm excited about.

Day 30: For my health, for my warm apartment, and for the ability to confess and be in a state of grace.

I feel like I've successfully finished 30 Days of Thankful. Though I didn't post every day (next year's goal!), I did get a post in for every day of the month, so I think it counts. I'm planning to drop off the radar for the next week and a half (see Day 29), but after exams are over, I'll be back!

30 Days of Thankful: Day 21

Today I am thankful for friends with whom I can discuss my faith.

Last night after Mass, Christopher and I went to the beach down the road from the church, kind of on a whim (obviously, since we were both wearing dress clothes). Ours was the only car in the parking lot and the boardwalk was totally dark, which made me a little nervous, but since I wasn't alone, I kept going. Once we got on the beach, though, the darkness and the nerves didn't matter--it was so beautiful. The tide was really low, so the beach was huge and the only real lights we could see, other than the ships and the lighthouse behind us, were the stars.

Being that it is November, the water was a little cold, but we waded anyway and walked along the beach through the water. We talked about Latin Mass and Scripture and Mary, as well as discussing the depth of the tide pool we waded through and what the tiny glowing things in the water were.

At one point, while I was standing calf-deep in the ocean, looking out to the barely discernible horizon and not saying anything, an incredible sense of gratefulness settled in my soul, washing in gently like the waves I was standing in. I realized that ever since I graduated high school, I've been a rather intellectually lazy Catholic, which is shameful--I haven't really explored the beauties and mysteries of my Faith as an adult. But our young adult group, and specifically Christopher, who is studying to come into the Church at Easter, have pulled me out of that laziness because it has become the norm, once again, to discuss matters of faith, to read articles and books about things that pertain to Catholicism and share them with a larger audience. And I had forgotten how much I need my faith life to be intellectual.

So tonight I am thankful for that gift of intellectual, devout friends, for the reintroduction of study and inquiry into my faith as an adult, and for the awesome beauty of creation

30 Days of Thankful: Day 20

Today, I'm thankful for the men in my Young Adult Group (aka, YAG). They hosted a brunch this morning for all of the women, just as a way to say thank you to us for everything that we do for the group. They fed us a huge meal, complete with coffee and mimosas, gave us yellow roses, and told us that they, as a group, have been doing a Rosary novena for the last nine days, praying for each woman in the group (there's 50 of us!) by name. It was a wonderful morning, tinged with just a little sadness as we found out that one of the core men of the group is deploying this week, months before he was supposed to go. But we prayed for him and for his safe return and we'll keep things going until he gets back.

30 Days of Thankful: Day 19

Today I am thankful that I'm in grad school.

Yes, it's hard, especially at finals time, but I am so very blessed to be able to spend these two years (which are almost up!) studying what I love.

I'm thankful for a productive Saturday.

I'm thankful also that my family is coming down for Thanksgiving and will be here in 3 days and a wakeup

30 Days of Thankful: Day 18

Today I'm thankful that sweater weather is back.

I'm thankful for afternoons spent working with a huge fluffy dog sleeping at my feet and for falling asleep myself.

I'm thankful to be warm and cozy

Finally, I'm thankful for a weekend with few plans so that I can get lots of work done before the family gets here on Wednesday

30 Days of Thankful: Day 17

Today I am thankful for the gift of home. I had the luxury of spending all day at home until I leave in a few moments for my afternoon class. There have been a few things weighing on my mind lately (nothing earth-shattering, just preoccupations), so I set about righting them last night. First, I went to Confession so that I'd be in a state of grace again; listening as Fr. W talked to me after my confession was very helpful. Then, today, I took it easier than I have taken it recently. I forwent morning Mass because I was exhausted--I think that either the end of the semester is taking a bigger toll on me than I realized or my anemia is still not under control--even though I felt a bit guilty about skipping out. But I reasoned that 1) daily Mass isn't required and 2) I need to take care of myself, so I slept in, just a little. Then I got up and was really productive as far as my end of the semester papers go. As of 1:00, I've finished most of the research for two of my three final papers.

Now I'm sitting in my living room, windows open while the sun shines and the breeze blows, making the palm tree outside my apartment rustle. My house is cool and shady and I just took a loaf of bread out of the oven, so the house has a light yeasty smell. I slept for a while and I'm not rushing to finish preparing for class, so the calm that pervades my surroundings fills my soul too. I'm extraordinarily thankful for this very ordinary day, this time of oasis in the chaos I've been surrounding myself with.