By the way, am I blogging again?

Well, I'm not quite sure. It was almost a year ago ... last May 12... that I posted a dramatic farewell. Blah blah blah.

The funny thing is that right now, I know for a fact that absolutely nobody has noticed I'm posting again. I checked Sitemeter and there was exactly 1 person who visited... and that, of course, was me.

It will be interesting to see if anybody does eventually stop by here to see what's going on. In the meantime, I'm posting a few things just for fun.

It must be lovely in Wisconsin at this time of year...

.. all that snow.

Yes, it's a beautiful December day here; we're all cozy inside while the blizzard rages outside. I was out this morning at Target, dashing through the sleeting, blowing snow to do a little Christmas shopping. Now, at home again, I'm watching the snow cover up the daffodils....

OK, hold on. It's not December. It's April 11. And yes, the daffodils were blooming, until they froze to death and fell over on the ground last week, and now they're nearly covered with snow. It wasn't Christmas shopping I was doing, it was birthday shopping for our youngest daughter's 8th birthday, tomorrow.

And the storm goes on.

But, the timing for this last blast of winter was perfect in one respect: We've been finishing up our read-aloud of "The Long Winter". We sat in the living room, with all the big picture windows on every side showing the drama of the blowing, drifting, whirling snow, while we read about the Long Winter of 1880, when the Ingalls family nearly starved and froze to death in their house in De Smet.

We, on the other hand, are in the lap of luxury, with chili cooking on the stove, lots of cozy afghans all around in which to snuggle up while reading, and a furnance that, while prone to quitting on us at least once each season, has kept us warm this whole long, cold winter with nary a problem.

By next week it could be 80 degrees. That's how it goes in Wisconsin at this time of year.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight, Holy Thursday, it's going to be a simple beef stroganoff. It's my mother-in-law's recipe, which she wrote out by hand over 20 years ago when Tom and I were engaged.

She's been gone for almost 4 years now, which is hard to believe. We still miss her.

But tonight, we'll have her stroganoff, remember her fondly, and begin the Holy Triduum.

Tomorrow, Good Friday, we'll fast and abstain from meat.

Saturday, I'll make our Catholic version of a seder so that we can remember the connections between the Last Supper, Passover, and the Mass.

Sunday, Easter Dinner at Mom and Dad's: ham, green bean casserole, fruit platter, rolls and lamb-shaped butter, probably a jello mold. Cheesecake and coffee for dessert.

And wine, which, after a Lenten fast, will taste particularly sweet.

Ma's Stroganoff:

2 pounds top sirloin, cut into small pieces (it's easier to cut when partially frozen)
1 lg onion, sliced
1 can chicken broth
1/2 pound (or more, if you like) fresh sliced mushrooms
flour, garlic salt, salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream

Put about 1/4 cup flour, about 2 tsp of garlic salt, and pepper into a plastic ziplock bag. Add the sliced meat and shake the bag to coat.

In an electric frying pan (or stove-top skillet), melt 2 TBSP shortening till good and hot. Add the flour-coated meat and brown on all sides.

Add the sliced onion, stir and cook for a couple minutes.

Add the chicken broth and cover. Let simmer for several hours.

About a half hour before serving, add the mushrooms.

Taste to see if you need more salt and pepper and garlic.

Finally, just before serving, gently fold in a cup of sour cream and heat through.

Serve over hot wide noodles.