Momma in the Middle: F

FRIDAY! I had to post F on a Friday and we are going to review all "F" topics on my brain.........

FISH FRY
Ah, yeah, Fridays, in Lent = Fish Fry with the Family (yes, that is a triple F score there!). The group of us (Aunt, Uncle, my Mom, Jeff, the kids and I) meet at our local American Legion Post. Our cousin, Angela, is typically even our waitress. Is it the best fish in town? No. But, like my Mom said, if we went anywhere else, we'd feel like we were cheating on our beloved Legion. We eat fish, we drink beer, Uncle Dan sneaks the kids some 'Kitty-Meow-Meow' bars and the kids run around like little hooligans. Doesn't get much better than that (you know for under $30!).

FRICK
That was my thought as I was cleaning Calista's diaper pail. STINKY. I have to say there was maybe 7 pull-ups in there, but dang they were potent little things. I swear my eyes watered. Again, leaving me ponder, how can someone so little, leave such a STENCH!

FAITH
I recently had a dental appointment. Unfortunately, I was not completely numb before the drill hit my tooth. Luckily, my dentist responds the look of terror in my eyes and me jumping out of that chair. 4 more shots of Novocaine later, I did not feel anything the rest of the appointment. Also, during the rest of my appointment I found it comforting to start saying the Rosary. I find comfort in my faith and I am so glad it is with me always -- even if that means I am praying in the dentist chair. (FYI- I wasn't even praying for myself, it was for others. When I had no pain, I figured I was in the clear.)

FOOD
Sunday is Palm Sunday, which means it's Ravioli Sunday! A local Italian Church sells homemade Ravioli twice a year, on Palm Sunday and in October. People line the block that wraps around the Church to wait in line for this delicious dish. Growing up, and even now, many of the people in the line were related to me, or were friends of the family. Anyone who knows ANYTHING about ravioli Sunday, knows if you get there and the line is 'around the bend' (this means around the corner of the Church), you need to pray there will be some left when you get to the front. I have stood in sunshine, in rain, and in snow; funny how similar October and March weather can be! I have stood with my Mom and Gramma, with Jeff, and we even took Connor one year in his stroller.

I remember all the preparation my Gramma and Mom would do for ravioli Sunday, we had special containers (and knew how many serving would fix in each) and certain bags to hold the dishes. We had a list how how many frozen boxes we needed (a box of 50 frozen homemade ravioli). We had to get their cheese (fresh, finely granted parm), their bread, and extra "Loume-E-de" - or gravy - or Red tomato sauce to those outside our family. I will never forget my Gramma yelling in Italian at the men serving that they were cheating her a meatball, or some ravioli/sauce/ ect. She never let any of that slide. And instead of using a serving spoon, it was a mini-shovel used to scoop out the precious cuisine. I kid you not, a metal shovel.

[ASIDE- In regards to my word, "Loume-E-de." In my family we use our special Italian-English word for the sauce. It did not dawn on me until Jeff came over one Palm Sunday that, the word I was using was NOT part of the English language. Funny enough, I learned we used a few words around that house that were not English. Funnier still, I had no idea, until I would use one, and Jeff would stare at me like I was some sort of idiot.]

As a child, I would look forward to the ride home, when my Gramma would sneak me the "Koo-ga La-Goots" (that means the end of the bread soaked in the red sauce- delicious). Lots of fun memories from ravioli Sunday. Hmm.... maybe we will have to make our way up there....

FLOWERS
Check out some of these Zoo Blooms from last weekend...