Today is the feast day of St. Scholastica - one of our family’s patron saints. She is the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia. To celebrate, we’re having an Umbrian-style dish and dove biscuits for dessert.

Pasta a la Scholastica

1 lb. whole wheat pasta shells
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
1/4 c. butter
1 medium onion, sliced
10 oz. baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c. flour
1 c. white wine
1.5 c. chicken stock
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 c. cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 T dried parsley

In a large electric skillet, saute onions in 2 T butter until translucent. Remove and set aside. Add chicken cubes to the skillet and brown on all sides. Add remaining butter, melt. Add flour, salt, pepper, and tarragon. Stir to completely incorporate, cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and stock, stirring well. Add mushrooms and onions. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare pasta shells to package directions. Add cream, parsley, and cooked pasta shells. Serve with shaved parmesan cheese.

Delish! This is excellent when served with a dark green salad and asparagus or broccoli.

Scholastica’s Almond Dove Biscuits

3 c. slivered almonds
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. almond extract
4 c. sifted flour
2 eggs
2/3 c. cream
2 egg whites

Set aside almonds and 1 T sugar. Cream butter and remaining sugar. Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour alternately with cream and blend well. Divide dough and chill.

Roll each disc out on a floured board to a thickness of 1/4″, and cut with dove-shaped cutter. Brush each biscuit with egg white, arrange almonds for feathers on the wing, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes, or until just golden at the edges.

Have a blessed Sunday!

I’m sold out of printed copies at the moment, but we have ordered more.

The CDs have been a bit of a nuisance. The first ones got processed incorrectly and it took ages to get them fixed. The corrected ones have only just arrived and are on their way out.

Thanks to everyone who has waited so patiently!

Could I ask your prayers for my oldest daughter Cate, who has come down with the mumps? I thought that she was fully immunised, but I guess she’s due for a booster… She’s doing just fine, but I’d like your prayers that she doesn’t experience any of the rare complications - one is infertility.

This week has been a trying one for us. Things big and small have gone other than we would have liked. I’m mourning another month without getting pregnant. Silly with 6 here on earth with me, I know. Perhaps He is finally calling us to adopt, which would make my heart SING!

Our bus broke down an needed an expensive repair. It’s running fine now, thank goodness.

We had a big ice and freezing rain storm yesterday and over night and our flashing on the roof finally gave out. Carrie and Sophie’s room was flooded. That’s going to mean another expensive repair.

And the farm that we’ve been praying about for over a year went under agreement this week. It’s not a “done deal” yet, but our chances are looking slimmer.

I know from past experience that this is an opportunity for us to grow in grace. I thank God that I have something to offer up for those who have far worse things do deal with. We are being made in to something more beautiful, but we have to be put through the fire and shaped with hammers, then polished to a high shine. It doesn’t always feel good, but the more we yield to the process, the easier it will go. It helps to be flexible when you have friends praying for you, though. And I appreciate it more than you know.

I’m totally in love with Dotee. She is so easy and fun to craft. Dotee dolls are a fantastic project for a beginning crafter or sewer. They’re an ideal project for using up scraps in your stash and can be used as ornaments, magnets, brooches, sachets, or pincushions. They are between 3″ and 6″ tall - just right for holding in your hand, hanging on a cabinet knob, or displayed in a larger grouping.

So here are the rules:

You will have three partners.
You will make one Dotee for each partner. (for a total of three dotees)

Here’s the twist:

Tuck a slip of paper inside with a prayer for your recipient. You can take a photo of the “prayer card”, or copy the prayer onto your recipient’s notecard before you send it (so they’ll know what is inside)

That’s it! You may want to choose a spring theme, or a Faith-centered theme. Your Dotees can be rectangular, pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or square (or any shape you can think of). Look closely at your partner’s preferences for inspiration.

Just email me your name and full address and include a little information about yourself. Favourite colours, design style, books, movies, activities, etc. This will help your partners to make a special Dotee just for you!

This is an INTERNATIONAL swap, so all are very welcome. Please make sure that your Dotees are of a quality you would like to receive. Nice materials, embroidered faces, and extra care make Dotee very special. Please only join the swap if you can participate, I’m unable to angel this swap with my heavy schedule.

Here’s the lady who started it all. She’s even got a great little tutorial on how to make a Dotee. You can also choose to knit or crochet a Dotee (Are you reading this Mary?)!

LAST DAY TO SIGN UP: Sunday, 24 February
SWAP MUST BE SENT BY: Saturday, 15 March

Please email me:

Your Name
Your Address
A little about yourself (married/children/grandchildren, etc.)
A List of your hobbies, interests, and favourites (music, movies, books, colours, styles, objects to collect, etc.)
A prayer request (if you have one).

THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL SWAP. Keep this in mind as you may be sending your package overseas. Spread the word, the more the merrier!

And now for a few *mahvelous* examples from my Dotee Flickr Group (it must be February, I’m feeling the red…):