Sweet Potato Soup

This soup has a rich, velvety texture.  You can make it veggie (use Quorn bacon and vegetable stock) and it works well as a pasta sauce.  I usually make it in the slow cooker and then whizz it with the stick blender when it’s cooled but you could also take the time to chop the veg finely and make something more like broth.  It cooks fine on the hob, freezes well and reheats in the microwave from chilled.  The last time I made this soup I got 11 portions from this recipe.  I adapted this from a recipe by Gill Holcombe.

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
3 carrots
1 onion
(Spare veg?  A stick of celery or a shallot or two would fit nicely.)
3 bacon rashers (or one pack Quorn bacon)
2pts chicken/vegetable stock

Method

Preheat slow cooker on High.  Chop the veg into 1″ pieces and place in slow cooker.  Roughly chop the bacon and add to the slow cooker with the stock.  Cover and reduce the heat to Low.  Allow to cook for most of the day then cool if possible and liquidize.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

It’s been a good week for reading although I’m still in Reread Mode.  But I’ve finished the Ludys I wanted to revisit and am now reading my favourite book from last year – Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.

1. Eric & Leslie Ludy – When Dreams Come True – 2012/008 [Reread]
2. Leslie Ludy – Sacred Singleness – 2012/009 [Reread]
3. Leslie Ludy – The Lost Art of True Beauty – 2012/010 [Reread]

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

The past week has been a really good one for me.  On a whim, I decided to participate in an online retreat with the nuns of Holy Trinity Monastery.  It was a really positive experience for me although I’ve come back to earth with a bit of a thump over the weekend!  Focussing so much on God made me want to revisit (once again) the books of Eric and Leslie Ludy so although I have four books to share with you today, they’re all rereads and I haven’t updated their reviews beyond sticking ‘Reread February 2012’ on them.  Somehow the things I learned this time around don’t belong in book reviews.  I hope you enjoy revisiting these titles anyway:

1. Leslie Ludy – Authentic Beauty – 2012/004 [Reread]
2. Eric & leslie Ludy – When God Writes Your Love Story – 2012/005 [Reread]
3. Leslie Ludy – Set-Apart Femininity – 2012/006 [Reread]
4. Eric & leslie Ludy – When God Writes Your Life Story – 2012/007 [Reread]

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

I’ve had a fairly good week with two reviews for you:

1. Tom Wright – Virtue Reborn – 2012/002
2. Shannon Ethridge – Every Woman’s Battle – 2012/003

I found Virtue Reborn quite a difficult read but the Shannon Ethridge was pure pleasure and I really do wish I’d read it years ago.

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

It’s been a while since I updated so I’ve a nice wee list of Christian books for you this week:

Books Read & Reviewed (2011):

1. Tom Wright – Surprised by Hope – 2011/067
2. Catherine Campbell – God Knows Your Name – 2011/071
3. Carl Anderson & Jose Granados – Called to Love – 2011/073

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

Finally!  I’m all caught up with writing reviews so I have three Christian (but not Catholic) books for you this week.  I hope you enjoy them 🙂

Books  Reviewed:

1. Don Colbert – The Bible Cure for PMS – 2011/060
2. J John – TEN – 2011/061 [Reread]
3. Joyce Meyer – Living Beyond Your Feelings – 2011/062

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by This That and the Other Thing.

Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?  I’ve been reading and knitting and pottering about but haven’t found time to do much writing.  Fortunately, a friend gave me a gentle prod this week and I finally got caught up on my reviews so I have a long list of them for you today!  I’m very interested in Benedictine spirituality at the moment (are there any Oblates reading?) so there are a fair few books on that topic.  I’ve also continued following the theme of Christian relationships (of the romantic variety).  What I haven’t been reading is fiction although I do have Becoming <a title="Becoming Marie Antoinette" href="Becoming Marie Antoinette ” target=”_blank”>Marie Antoinette on the Kindle at the moment …

Books Read & Reviewed:

1. Joshua Harris – Boy Meets Girl – 2011/046
2. English Benedictine Congregation – The Oblate Life – 2011/047
3. Joshua Harris – Not Even a Hint – 2011/048
4. John McQuiston II – Always We Begin Again – 2011/049
5. Abbott Christopher Jamison – Finding Sanctuary  – 2011/050
6. St Benedict – The Rule of St Benedict – 2011/051
7. Joshua Harris – Dug Down Deep  – 2011/052
8. Mgr Bruce Harbert – Companion to the Order of Mass – 2011/054
9. Karen Armstrong – Through the Narrow Gate – 2011/055 [Reread]
10. Fulton J Sheen – Life of Christ – 2011/DNF
11. Max Lucado – God’s Story, Your Story – 2011/056
12. Rowan Williams – Silence and Honey Cakes – 2011/058 (Review available 25th October 2011)

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by This That and the Other Thing.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

It’s lovely to be participating in this meme again this week.  I’ve continued to be ill but am getting lots of support from my medical team.  One of them suggested I make a point of going to Confession.  I did and what a difference it has made to me!

I have three books to share with you this week:

Books Read & Reviewed:

1. Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira –  Grumble Hallelujah – 2011/042
2. Johnnie Moore – Honestly – 2011/043
3. Joshua Harris – I Kissed Dating Goodbye – 2011/044

I think my favourite from the set is Johnnie Moore’s.  I read it when I was feeling really depressed and found it a great comfort and consolation.  Of course, getting a really nice note from him when he’d read my review didn’t hurt either!

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

I’ve had a really mixed week.  My bipolar is playing up and I’m rapid cycling so I’ve had periods of depression interspersed with times of euphoria.  It is exhausting and makes planning more than a day in advance all but impossible.  I’m now on extra medication to try and stabilise my mood so I’m sleepy and lethargic.  Sounds like fun, eh?

But enough with this!  I have one book review to share with you this week:

• Eric & Leslie Ludy – When Dreams Come True – 2011/041 [Reread]

This completes my Ludy marathon as I’ve now run out of relevant titles.  The couple have written a couple of others but they concern the education of children and planning a wedding and neither of those seem likely at the moment.  If my longing for all things Ludy doesn’t die down I may read them anyway but I’ve decided to try and move on to Joshua Harris just now – I’m waiting for his first title to be delivered.

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Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival is a weekly blog event hosted by This That and the Other Thing:

“We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers—whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.“

Memory Verse – Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
NRSV

I’m not very good with posting schedules, am I?  But I did write this verse out ten times most days during the week it was my Memory Verse, I just haven’t had time to write this post and tell you about the experience.

For me, there are two key words in this verse.  They are ‘assurance’ and ‘conviction’ and I think it was for these that I chose this as a Memory Verse.

When I was growing up, I was bullied at school.  I was always doing or saying the ‘wrong’ thing which made me a figure of ridicule.  I didn’t know the rules and that made me the odd girl out who wanted very much to fit in with the confident, popular, assured girls she saw around her.  Today, I may be an adult but there’s a streak of schoolgirl still running down my back.  I still hanker after the glossy fantasy of the in-crowd and feel I am anything other than assured.  I want to be poised, cool under pressure and able to glide through all manner of social situations.  At 38 I’m beginning to see that I am who I am, blushes and all, and to give up the fantasy.

Does this mean I’m doomed to a life of stammers and squirming?  Not according to my reading of this verse.  Faith is linked strongly to assurance.  But it’s not about having the right hair or knowing which fork to use.  It’s about the ‘conviction of things not seen’.

How often have I doubted?  How often have I resorted to behaving ‘as if’ I believed?  How often have I slammed my Bible shut and turned on the TV instead?  Too many times.

But something changed for me the week this was my Memory Verse.  After coffee with a friend, we browsed the bookshelves of a local charity shop and came across one of those ‘alternative histories’ which makes various claims about Jesus that are contrary to Church teaching.  As I held it and scanned the publisher’s blurb I knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the Church’s version of events is true.  I felt conviction for the first time.  No doubts.  No probables.  No behaving ‘as if’.  That knowledge still sits inside me, a rock which cannot move.

Has this experience made me more assured?  Well, I still don’t have the right hair but, to be honest, I’m not so fussed about that.  At a night out this week some acquaintances decided to indulge in a little Catholic-bashing.  I hesitated a bit and then stated my case quietly and with dignity before allowing the conversation to move to other topics.  I was assured.  And it felt better than the right hair.

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This week’s Memory verse is Matthew 6:33:

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
NRSV