More Free Resources!

I just added 2 new sites: EdHelper.com and Time 4 Learning. They were both sent to me with a list of 100 sites! Ei yei yei!! So, forgive me and give me time, because I have so much up already, I need to go through them one by one, and yes, now I will organize them by subject!

On another topic, do you still have your nativity scene out? Not ready to say good bye to Christmas? Well, you have some time left! Kim over at Catholic Family Vignettes gave me a lesson on The Feast of Candlemas, one I had heard of but was not too familiar with and had no idea how to celebrate. It is on February 2, so plenty of time to learn and prepare yet another beautiful tradition for the birth of Our Lord!

Enjoy!
Mrs. Murphy

Always Learning...

I am a convert, not a cradle Catholic, but either group can claim ignorance of the Liturgical traditions for this reason alone. I just learned that the Church listed Epiphany on Sunday, January 4, while it is also still celebrated on January 6, which is the actual 12th day of Christmas. (If I wasn't immediately dumb upon getting pregnant, I could have done that math!)

My good friend Michaela always amazes me with her commitment to preparing for and carrying out such beautiful and memory filled liturgical celebrations. She is an inspiration, and I am just going to have to steal all her good ideas!

So, I am creating a "Christmas Season for Catholic Dummies, aka Mrs. Murphy Binder" to keep, and will continue to build more for each season. See, my problem is I get with my friends or check out the blogs about the liturgical celebrations and feast days like, the day before or the day of.... that is no time for me to even mentally prepare!

I'm thinking my Christmas Binder will begin the day after Thanksgiving, with a list of shopping items for each traditional food, craft, etc needed to carry out that holiday season, and end on Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas. I will have the day listed, such as St. Nicholas Day, a description of what it is all about, 2 or 3 ideas for a craft, 2 or 3 food ideas to make with the kids, and how to carry out this day, so I have it all laid out ahead of time. The idea came to me as I was feeling quite upset with myself that I didn't do more, when Dora the Explorer, Diego and Boots were on an adventure to a 3 Kings party. Cute, no doubt! But I want these memories to stem from the HOME, not Nickelodeon!

I certainly cannot do every feast day, every Saint day, it's just not possible in the Murphy house, so I will start out with the basics and build. This year for sure, we will be going through and creating memorable Namesake Feast days, something I have never done before. My friends Poms, Michaela and 5-0 will be recruited to help me! So, whether Cradle or Convert, there is always room to grow and learn, I will share this binder making system with you as I go along, and PLEASE, send me some ideas!

Merry Christmas!

Happy First Day of Christmas! Today begins the 12 days of Christmas, ending on Epiphany, January 6. I hope you all had a blessed day on this the day of Our Lord's birth. The Murphy family had a wonderful time, and although a modest gift giving, I'll say the girls weren't any less thrilled than in Christmases past. I say it every year, we could have done less and it would have been just as joyful!

Each year for Christmas Day I try to make 2 main meals, a breakfast feast and a dinner feast, usually featuring "roast beast" (ha ha, that rhymed!). During the day we nibble on smoked meats, cheeses, crackers, black olives and the sweet Gherkins that Daddy gets in his stocking every year from St. Nick! (The girls think that is just hilarious!) I'd like to share with you this year's breakfast feast, as it was a huge success.

As a miserly mom, of course I save my bread ends! I keep them in a big ziploc freezer bag and I had accumulated about a loafs worth, maybe more. This recipe has been adapted from the one my sister-in-law sent me from NH, that she makes for her family on Thanksgiving morning.

French Toast Bake:

Last night, I thawed my bread ends and tore them into about 1 inch by 1 inch, some smaller, pieces and spread them in a 9 X 13 casserole dish


In a separate bowl I mixed:
10 eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup maple syrup
8 Tbls melted butter
1tsp vanilla

I poured this over the bread and then I stirred it all together to make sure all the bread was soaked. I covered it and let it sit in the fridge over night.


This morning I baked it at 350 for 45 minutes.

It came out all golden and yummy and mapely...oh so good! My husband and kids added more syrup to it, and next year I'll have on hand some powered sugar to shake on top!

We also had Sausage Balls, one of my favorites as a kid. My mom made them every year.

3 cups Bisquik
1 lb HOT sausage
8 oz shredded SHARP cheddar cheese

Let the sausage and cheese come to room temperature. Since I don't like to touch meat so much, and I'm not into hand mixing, I put everything into the Kitchen-Aid and let it do all the mixing work for me!
Roll the mixture into small balls (about 1 inch) and place on baking sheet (I only use stoneware). Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
I did this last night and put them in the fridge when they were cooled. It was so easy to pull a big glass casserole of them out and put them in the oven to warm after I pulled out the french toast bake.

I hope your Christmas morning feast was as yummy as ours, I'd love to hear what you have for traditional foods! So much comes from family, handed down generation after generation. Enjoy the season and God Bless you all!

Now you can sing "On the first day of Christmas Mrs. Murphy gave to me...some awesome Christmas recipes!"

With Much Love,
Mrs. Murphy