Sunday Drive: Peace Prayer

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

                                                 -- Micah 6:8

The Peace Prayer, sometimes called the Prayer of St. Francis, exquisitely performed by John Michael Talbot.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

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The Pork Boys Do the Holidays

As usual, the Pork Boys enjoyed a raft of delicious meals for Christmas, New Year's, and Kings' Day, all made from scratch by M.P., resident chef extraordinaire.

Unfortunately, your Head Trucker has gotten pretty lax in the picture-taking department, so we don't have a comprehensive set of pics.  I'm posting these here mainly just for our own future reference.

M.P. knocks himself out cooking these holiday meals, but now he is pooped and swears he won't cook another thing the rest of this month.  But he always comes up with some new culinary idea before February arrives.  I wish all my truckbuddies, and everyone in the world, could enjoy such delightful repasts.

Yule Dinner for M.P.'s kids and grandkids:

M.P. made a beautiful charcuterie platter with meats, cheeses, nuts, olives, and dried fruit.

M.P.'s clever rearrangement of the front room makes it possible now to seat 14 without crowding at the holidays.

Epiphany 2023: Planet and Comet

Planet and Comet

   for Karl, 1966-2020

I was at the noon of life, you were in midmorning

That June in February when we kissed and fell

In love, too soon for sense, too strong for caution.

But oh, how lovely did the moon smile down on us!

We seemed to dance among the stars, they seemed to reel 

About our heads, and in your eyes I saw reflected

All my own forever dreams; felt your heartbeat thrum

In tune with mine, a summer song – too soon to end.

I watched for your return a long and lonely while.

In time, forsaken passion mellows into quietude

As green leaves turn to gold and rust

And flames die down to embers,

Souvenirs of light and heat and joy

When graybeards huddle by the hearth,

Remembering summer's caressing kiss,

The south wind’s warm embrace.

Comparisons are odious, of course.

We each must walk an unmarked path

Through barren wastes or fields of gold

To gather thorns and roses where we may

And water them with memories.

Who knows but that our found and lost

Are lessons learned to pave the way

For other joys to come: salt water into wine.

The stars swing on, thirty years have gone:

Time out of mind.  I can hardly comprehend, 

Cannot count that high.  It seems absurd,

So many steady rounds about the sun.

Never thought that I would end up here

At this cold, far place, an old man now,

So long removed from dancing days,

Leaning on a cane, shuffling through snow.

And still the music of the spheres plays faintly on

I hear it now and then behind the winter wind . . .

But suddenly you’re here, O my beloved wanderer—

Why this epiphany so late?  Why did we have to wait?

Never mind.  Oh, what a strange, unlooked-for joy!

For one sweet moment to dance the dance again,

To feel again – and know – your summer warmth,

The gravity of your embrace:  a love that knows no end.

Copyright 2023 by Russ Manley.  All rights reserved.

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With special thanks to my truckbuddy Frank, who unwittingly gave me the springboard for this poem.

Published on the day of the Full Wolf Moon.

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This is post 3 of 4

Post 1    Post 2    Post 4

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The Pork Boys Do the Holidays

We are resting and recuperating this week after a time of feasting and celebration through the holiday season just past.  Here are some pics and menus to record what all Chef M.P. conjured up, which was heartily enjoyed by all, and not least by your Head Trucker - who washed the dishes.   

First of all was our Yule dinner, the biggest feast of the year, held on December 19th for M.P.'s four children and their spouses (or spouse-equivalents) and four pint-sized grandchildren.  That makes quite a crowd in our little bungalow, but somehow they all managed to squeeze in and have a good time.  Such a good time was had, in fact, that we took only one picture:  

These two entrees were a big hit.  Our guests devoured every last bite.
You should understand that M.P. cured the ham himself from a pork loin, which took weeks to do.  And he used a succulent beef tenderloin in the Wellington, carefully tenderized in a long marinade of wine and herbs.  Click to enlarge.

Here is the full menu, which M.P. exerted himself mightily for days to prepare, along with decorating the house inside and out:

Baked Ham with Orange-Apricot Glaze 

Beef Wellington 

Colcannon 

Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce 

Waldorf Salad 

Homemade Yeast Rolls

Assorted Cheesecakes 

The young people brought the cheesecakes, along with a variety of beers and wines, foreign and domestic.

Then a week later, M.P. and I had our own little Christmas dinner - here is what the table looked like:

The green pointy thing in the bowl is a dinner napkin, very meticulously wrapped and rolled to resemble a little Christmas tree - very charming.  Below is a lightened crop of it.

Several years ago, the children gave M.P. this lovely electric fireplace, and that is definitely the way to go - no fuss, no muss, just click the remote and presto, instant warmth and cheer.

The canard rouge and jambalaya, hot out of the oven and oh so delicious!

The meal actually began with Cream of Green Soup, which is made from pureed green beans - I know it doesn't sound so great, but believe me, it's luscious.

At left, diced candied butternut squash; at right, Brussels sprouts a la Polonaise

From six o'clock:  duck with stuffing and gravy, pineapple casserole, homemade croissant and honey butter, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash.

The piece de resistance:  Our favorite chocolate mousse cake, made from scratch, of course, with homemade whipped cream and a dollop of sugared raspberries. 
Ooh la la!

A week later, having had some duck egg rolls in the meantime, we enjoyed our New Year's feast:

The table setting, with a piece of royal blue velvet in the center.

From six o'clock:  fried chicken livers, baked sweet potato and butter, grits and gravy, black-eyed peas.  Chicken livers, grits, and gravy are not a Southern tradition for New Year's Day - but it was all just so doggone good, we promptly decided it will be OUR tradition from here on!

A delicious big pot of gumbo aux herbes, sometimes called gumbo zerbes, which includes five types of greens and pieces of smoked sausage.  Talk about good!  These were served in a separate bowl.

One of my Christmas presents to M.P. was a cast-iron pan for making corn sticks, which he promptly put to good use just like his mama used to do.

A picture of our Christmas tree, full of peacocks and blue birds, and maybe some partridges and pears.  I should have taken a closeup or two.  It was really lovely at night, strung with blue and white lights.

But wait, there's more.  Last Sunday we had our Kings' Day feast with three crowns on the table, of course.

From six o'clock:  breaded pork schnitzel with cream gravy; crown roll (M.P. simply snipped the top three times with scissors before baking); buttered new potatoes; stuffed eggplant; and green lima beans with tomatoes.

And so we well and truly celebrated the holidays, with gratitude for good thing, and have spent the last week recuperating from all the exertion!  But it was fun, and the time passed happily.  I hope all my truckbuddies ate as well and enjoy a happy and prosperous New Year from here on out.

The Pork Boys Do New Year's and Kings' Day

This holiday season just ended has been a most pleasant time for us - despite the usual mad rush of shopping, cooking, cleaning, and all the hassles of making and serving four festive meals in three weeks, somehow things seemed to go more smoothly and easily this year, with a minimum of frustration and exhaustion.  Why this was, I really can't say - perhaps we have finally learned how to do enough without trying to do too much for the holidays.  In any case, it was a blessed time, for which we were very grateful after a year of ups and downs, spills and pills, and all the usual frustrations that come with advancing age.

I should have posted our New Year's dinner last week, but we just relaxed instead, enjoying some peaceful days here in our quiet abode, sleeping late and doing a whole lot of delicious nothing.  And before anyone dares to wag a censorious finger, just stop and think:  if everyone, high and low, all round the globe had spent the last few weeks following our example, would that not have contributed a great deal to world peace?  I believe it was Dr. Johnson who said that most of the evils of the world arise because men are not content to sit peacefully at home beside their own hearth-fires.

Be that as it may, here is a combined summary of our two most recent feasts.

1.  New Year's Day 

Fresh greens - five kinds plus some chopped turnip stems.

Eckridge cheese sausage simmered in bouillon.

Greens + sausage + some culinary wizardry = fabulous Gumbo Z'erbes,
the scrumptious New Orleans dish.

Continued after the jump . . .

Sunday Drive: Handel, O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion