A Season for Everything...

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes (Ecc. 3:1-9), King Solomon writes how there is season for everything~ during this time of my life, I would heartily agree with him. Our family has gone through so many changes just over this last year that we have experienced the times to weep & laugh, mourn & dance, and especially cast away stones & gather stones together. For me, the casting away and gathering means no more than where we are with the kids. Having Cari in her own apartment, Joshua away at college & David attending college full-time (even though he's living at home) plus Mary going to be starting her senior year all shows me that it's time for me to be grateful whenever we are together since we seem to be more and more apart.

This was made clear to me this last week as a we had Joshua home for a week from his summer job at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts where he will be starting his sophomore year at the end of next month. The time we had together seemed to fly by, but we had many moments of laughter and joy whether we were attending Mass at Mt. Angel Abbey or thrift store shopping at St. Vincent De Paul's. Mary commented one day during the week that she enjoyed having Josh home because it meant we had good meals~ I will admit I did try to make some special dinners while he was here! Our last meal together were potato taquitos that I made as it was something gluten-free for Cari as well as meatless, it being Friday. They were quite delicious & something the kids have said they would like to have again!

Having said goodbye to the girls, the rest of us headed up to the airport to get Josh on his JetBlue flight back to Boston (via NY this time). I don't think goodbyes get necessarily easier, but this time there weren't tears from anyone~ at least that I could see. I think we had our time to be together and now it was time to be able to send away... at least until the Christmas break!

Summer Season Potato Taquitos

• 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (we had leftovers from the potatoes Mary made to go with the delicious meatloaf dinner a couple days before)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 24 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil
• salsa, sour cream & guacamole- for serving

1. Mix together first 5 ingredients.
2. Lay a corn tortilla on the counter or on a plate.
3. Spread some of the potato filling in the middle of the tortilla. Be careful, or it will spill out when you roll it up.
4. Roll the the tortilla over the filling towards the top.
5. Repeat until the filling is gone.
6. Heat up about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet.
7. Fry however many taquitos will fit on the bottom of the pan without overlapping. (I was able to do 5 at time).
8. When the bottoms are golden brown, flip them over and cook the second side the same way.
9. Drain on paper towels & serve with salsa, sour cream & guacamole.

P.S. I was also thinking there is a seasoning for everything...I may explore that in my next entry!