I stand in the sheep shed kitchen and stare at the bloody venison roast, trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to make this for tonight's dinner. The roast was a present from Aiden's uncle, and I should make it before the uncle leaves tomorrow. The uncle is an avid hunter, I hear, an expensive sport in Ireland, and I'm betting this venison roast is a real prize, and I don't want to mess this up. Aiden (name changed) was the first Irish boy to become a camper at Comeragh Wilderness Camp, … [Read more...] about Sheep Shed Kitchen- Memories of the Emerald Isle II
How to Catch a Bus—Memories of the Emerald Isle I
Comeragh Wilderness Camp was little more than a muddy meadow with a few trailers in those days, and even catching the bus didn't go like we planned. I was the cook, and Naomi was the secretary, both of us American volunteers in the southern part of Ireland. I had been there only a few months when Naomi asked me if I could drive her to the bus stop, so she could catch the bus to the Dublin airport. She had booked a flight to visit her family. "There's just one catch," Naomi added. "It will … [Read more...] about How to Catch a Bus—Memories of the Emerald Isle I
The Plays at Penn Johns School
When the night of the school program came and the red gingham curtains parted, our classroom was a theater filled with wit, drama, and far more comedy than we intended. Last week I went with my sister to watch my niece play a bit part in a children's music film, and the experience made Brenda and I recall the plays we acted in at Penn Johns School some twenty years ago. "I wish I could get my hands on the old video of me playing Mrs. Brown." Brenda told us. She, her daughter Angela, and I … [Read more...] about The Plays at Penn Johns School
Pizza, Pottery Works, and Puffing up the Mountain!
The quiet domestic life — the excitement of urban life— a grueling mountain hike— it's not often I get to experience it all in one weekend. Pizza Loaves I spent Saturday morning making one of my favorite recipes, Peppery Pizza Loaves. Mom has a scrapbook cookbook with the recipe clipped from an old issue of Quick Cooking. You can get the recipe from Taste of Home here. The pizza loaves are quick, delicious, and freeze well. I also made a couple of Frosty Chocolate Pies (pie recipe here). … [Read more...] about Pizza, Pottery Works, and Puffing up the Mountain!
Packing at Blessings of Hope
"Let's go volunteer at Blessings of Hope!" My sister Brenda is the family planner (on the left in the above photo) and that's how 19 family members, mostly children, ended up bagging flour together on a Wednesday afternoon earlier this summer. It was great thing to do together as a family, and a fun way to support a local ministry doing an astonishing work. Blessings of Hope has been in my neighborhood for several years, and for a long time I thought it was a food pantry. Blessings of Hope, I … [Read more...] about Packing at Blessings of Hope