Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top O' The mornin' to ye!
Today we are supposed to celebrate Saint Patrick, the man largely responsible for spreading Christianity throughout Ireland, he succeeded where others had not, by incorporating celtic symbolism into Christian symbols, aka the Celtic Cross. Basically he was a cool lad, I believe that I shared more history last year, so feel free to look it up :)
Here are work we are celebrating green food day... technically it is St. Patrick's Day but we are holding what we call a "Green Graze" each department got together and put some food together that is either green or authentic Irish fare. My department chose to go authentic :) Its really cool, one gal made corned beef and cabbage and potatoes, and the receptionist and I each tried a different recipe for Traditional Irish Soda Bread. I made mine in my Dutch oven, which was origianllt called a "Bastible Pot" and is close to what was originally used. It is a very simple bread and would be served almost every day, and it turned out very well :) If your curious the recipe is:

Traditional Soda Bread
Ingredients
· 4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour
· 1 Teaspoon baking soda
· 1 Teaspoon salt
· 14 oz of buttermilk
Baking directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.
2. In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.
3. Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)
4. Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.
5. Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot). Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
6. The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

Despite my Protestant background I am wearing green, instead of orange, moslty because most folks wouldn't understand the history behind it. and I don't want to forget all the Catholicism has done for Christianity, because of its highly ritualistic background it was able to convert many paganistic areas of the world that were accostomed to the ceremony in worship.
So Three Cheers for St. Patrick!!
And I hope you are all wearing either orange or green to celebrate his spectacular life!
God Bless!

End of Busy Season:
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonathan came home from work yesterday without calling me first, he just breezed on in at 6:15, it was beautiful. Of course seeing as he didn’t call I hadn’t put dinner in the oven yet, but I soon remedied that, and we ate earlier than we had in months. I made chicken with mushrooms, thyme and onion with rigatoni and steamed broccoli on the side. It was accented with a glass of Chenin Blanc and it turned out very well. I made a tempting dish of dark Chocolate Mousse to finish the meal; all in all it was very enjoyable :)

On another topic the sewing Expo was really cool, I learned a lot about quilting and pattern fitting that I think will really help my creative projects. I found a free-motion quilting foot on e-bay that I can’t wait to try. I practiced a little bit, but without the foot my thread kept getting a little tangled. A Lot of practice and I might just make it!

We don’t have any plans this weekend and I am really looking forward to spending a lot of time with my dear husband. We are planning on going to Leavenworth with some friends over St. Patricks day weekend and I will tell you all about it!
That’s all for now,
God Bless!

Ups and Downs

So it has been an interesting week. Joanthan was given a pair of Seattle Sonics tickets complete with free parking pass. The seats were amazing and we even got to rub elbows with the "high society" set at half-time where we got to enjoy food and beverages free of charge, it was pretty cool! And we won the game, which always makes for a good experience, I even managed to figure out what was going on by the end of it. On the other hand Jonathan has been working much too long and hard. I have never seen him this stressed out before, it makes me want to yell at all the partners. He has to put in some time this weekend, and that makes me angry, EVERYONE needs a break from work once a week and Jonathan should be given the same consideration that the rest of America gets. Pray for him please.
We can't wait to have The Ferguson's up this weekend, I think that we will have an enjoyable time. :)
Well, that its for now,
God Bless!