Snow Day in Seattle

Seattle is incredibly temperate with mild winters and markedly “cool” summers compared to much of the rest the United States. You might compare our clime to the South coast of England. If you’re at all familiar with that sort of thing.

It very rarely snows here.

And when it does, we stand in awe.

There is something about the first snowfall of the winter. Especially a lovely, soft, fluffy snow that sticks so well and continues for days. The sort of snow that makes you sit up and say, “We’d better stock up on food and firewood…just in case.”

The sort of weather that demands firewood, fresh bread, and steaming soups.

The kind of weather you must breathe and touch and roll about in to believe. It wakes you up, this muffled, softly drifting beauty. It calls you to the hearth and reminds you of what is good.

I wish I could have gotten photos of my children at play, building “ice sculptures” and delighting in the novelty of brushing off fence posts, tossing a dust of freezing sparkles into the air. Catching snowflakes on their tongues.

But I suppose that is one of those things that is better savored. Like so much of our lives, it never gets “captured.”

Like the snow, it will last long only in memory.

And afterwards, the frantic, red-nosed shedding of mittens and scarves and sopping boots. Cold fingers sandwiched between Mama’s hands while adventures are recounted and marshmallows munched with glee. Still-rosy cheeks puffing with smiles.

A cup of hot cocoa may not be much.

But it is a touchstone. A moment captured. Something by which to remember the joy of the snow.

Thank the Lord for touchstones. Those moments photographed, that snatch of melody recorded, dried flowers pressed, a program tucked away, or a phrase jotted hurried in a journal.

We cannot capture everything. We cannot will the snowfalls to stay. The fragile crystal melts and never again will there be another exactly like it.

But the touchstones, they bring it back. Perhaps not perfectly crisp or precisely clear. Yet it lingers. Long after the days have melted into other seasons, the touchstones draw us back.

Back to softly drifting beauty and a recollection of what was and always will be good.

Ten Minute Baked Potatoes

I have a secret.

You’re going to laugh at it.

I make baked potatoes in the microwave!

Okay, now that you’re done laughing, I’ll share the recipe with you. It makes for a brilliant, quick, delicious meal. I love having everything on hand before leaving for a trip and then tossing it together when we roll in, tired, from the airport or the car. But my husband would happily eat this meal at least once a week—and he’s not a man who like repeat dishes.

Ten Minute Baked Potatoes

Russet potatoes (2-3 small or 1 larger per person), scrubbed clean and dried
cooking oil (I use olive oil)
salt (plain iodized salt is best and helps protect against thyroid disease)
thick-cut bacon (1 slice per person)
butter
cheddar cheese
sour cream
chives, minced

Rub the clean potatoes all over their skins (jackets) with the oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt. Place them on a double-layer of paper towel in the microwave oven. Cook on high for 8 minutes, then check and microwave at 2 minute intervals until done. (Small potatoes will only need 8 minutes, but larger ones can need up to 16!)

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in the oven (you heard me!) at 450F for 10-12 minutes, until done to your liking. This will make it nice and firm throughout with that caramelized taste of long-cooked meat—and it banishes the gristle!

Slice the potatoes lengthwise down the center and pinch the short ends together so that the insides fluff up. Put a dollop of butter in each potato, then top with cheese, sour cream and chives. (Notice the order of the toppings—you want the butter and cheese to have the chance to melt; that’s why they go on first.)

Serve them up with some broccoli, a fresh salad or, as my family does, pickled green beans. Enjoy!

P.S. You don’t have to tell anyone you made them in the microwave if you don’t want. Your secret’s safe with me

Please Pray

Let your light so shine before men that, seeing your good works, they may glorify your Father in Heaven.
-- Matthew 5:16

Please join me in praying for Fr. Gabino Zavala, former auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, today. [WARNING: There are some awful comments following this very professional article. If you wish to read them, proceed with caution, fortitude and charity.]

Please pray also for vocations to the priesthood, for all the wonderful men who have lived—and are living—their vows with honor, and especially, for your own parish priest or priests, whoever they may be.

Most gracious Heavenly Father,

We thank you for our faithful priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood and example of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and devotion is so vital to the faith of your people.

May our spiritual fathers be guided by the examples of Saints Peter and Paul, all the Apostles and their saintly successors. Give them valiant faith in the face of confusion and conflict, hope in time of trouble and sorrow, and steadfast love for you, for their families, and for all your people throughout the world. May the light of your Truth shine through their lives and their good works.

Assist all spiritual fathers, that through your Grace they may steadily grow in holiness and in knowledge and understanding of your Truth. May they generously impart this knowledge to those who rely on them.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Priests
O Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N].
Give him a deep faith

a bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him
In his sorrows, strengthen him
In his frustrations, point out to him

that it is through suffering that the soul is purified,
and show him that he is needed by the Church,
he is needed by souls,
he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,

take to your heart your son who is close to you
because of his priestly ordination,
and because of the power which he has received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength,

and especially help him
to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen.

Prayer for Vocations to the Priestly and Religious Life

Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, show forth, we beseech Thee, in Thy Church the Holy Spirit with whose power the apostles were so abundantly filled. We thank Thee for the blessings bestowed upon the work of priests and religious; and we pray that Thou wilt add to the number of those who now pray, labor, and sacrifice themselves for Thy glory and the salvation of souls. Give them unselfish zeal for Thy glory. O good Jesus, give us more priests and religious after Thine own Heart! Amen.

Photo credit: Brian Hudson, “St. John Vianney at the Miraculous Medal Shrine, Paris” and “St. Paul’s Cathedral from below, London”