Lent

(Sorry, went over to my son's house this morning because he had a bad sore throat and needed to go to the doctor.  If I hadn't gone, he would have had to get the kids up and take them to the doctor with him at 8:15 a.m. when the temp was about 11-15 below zero.  So I have a pretty good excuse for being late.)


So I have figured out what I am doing for Lent.  It was an obvious choice and one I actually started about a week ago.  I am NOT buying anything on the Internet.  Nothing.  Unless it has extreme importance to the running of this household.

Getting new underwear does not count.  Neither does a pair of slip-on boots.

When I get a little down in the dumps or feel this certain frenzy coming over me, the relief is to buy something on the Internet.  The good feeling doesn't last much past the click to purchase.  The good feeling is replaced by regret and anger at myself.  One day I kind of figured it out.

When I was a little kid and my mom was really not well due to high blood pressure and strokes, we'd get the Montgomery Ward catalog.  She would have me go through it to get ideas on what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas.  And then I imagine she'd call the store and order the item and it would be delivered in a big truck when I was at school.  At any rate, shopping via catalog became kind of a balm to deal with my concerns for my mother and stresses of other kinds.

Now that I've arrived at what the trigger is, I think maybe this time I can gain some control over it and with God's help and some prayers stay away from making anything but necessary purchases.  And besides that, perhaps I can think of something good to do for someone else.

I do not have a large credit card debt or anything like that.  I've always controlled it to be able to pay off the card at the end of the month.  But that doesn't say much for my self-control, just keeping even.  I should be saving something and that's important!!

So far, so good.

I hope you have come up with something for your Lenten journey.  When you think about the start of each day, it is truly another chance to do better, to get things right.  A chance to use more patience, a chance to think of someone else's problems or pain, to say some prayers, to talk to God and to take time to be quiet and listen for an answer.

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Another topic.  Did I tell you about the Flamm Kuchen?  Okay, well here it goes.  I was looking up Wissembourg, France the other day.  Wissembourg is the largest city near where my grandfather was born and raised.  I'm sure he spent time there as did his mother and father and siblings.  It is lovely with a river going through town and quaint old buildings lining the square.  I found a video that a tourist made about a day in Wissembourg.  There was a market day going on and at one of the booths, a young woman was ladling out a white sauce on flat dough and then they put something else on it and it went into a brick oven fired with wood.  Soon they took it out and served it to their customers along with a big stein of beer.  Looked great!!!  So I wanted to find out more about Flamm Kuchen.

It turns out that the dough used for Flamm Kuchen was actually the tester to see if the oven was hot enough for bread.  An enterprising woman figured she had some items on hand and would just use them to bake the tester into something edible for her family.  Flamm Kuchen was born and it is like fast food in this part of France.

I found a recipe on line for the dough which in this case is yeast-free.  Then you put crème fraiche on top.  Crème fraiche is pronounced, "Crem fresh."  To make it, you use 1 cup whipping cream at room temperature and one tablespoon of buttermilk or sour cream at room temperature.  Place mixture in a jar with a lid and shake 15 seconds.  Then set aside (at room temp) for 24 hours or until very thick.  Stir once or twice during the 24 hours.  Cream will thicken faster if the temp in the room is warm.  Stir crème fraiche well.  Refrigerate at least six hours before serving.  Cover tightly and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  (Make more if you are making more than one Flamm Kuchen.)

Okay -- so you take the unbaked dough and make rectangles out of it.  Then ladle on some crème fraiche.  Top with very finely cut onion and pieces of bacon.  Put in 500 degree oven until ready.  Shouldn't be very long.

Doesn't that sound wonderful?  You can look up Flamm Kuchen yourself if you like or take the little tour of Wissembourg like I did.  Happy travels.