Restful Day

From sundown Friday night until sundown Saturday night is our day of rest.

We all had a busy week, and it was so nice to settle in once it was over. It's a time each week we all look forward to.

I wanted dinner to be special, and I cooked several things to eliminate having to do much this weekend in the kitchen. The fish was pretty good, but we preferred it simple rather than with the sauce called for by the recipe. J requested beef stew, so he can take it for meals at work, and I made some with the addition of diced tomatoes rather than the thicker gravy-type I usually make.

I tried Farmgirl's Dill and Cheese Beer Bread recipe(Yum!) http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/11/beyond-easy-beer-bread.html, and that was particularly easy and tasty. We'll be having that topped with shredded cheese and toasted over the next few days. For something sweet, I made us some mini-bundt chocolate cakes (added extra vanilla and sour cream to the recipe) to go with the whole organic milk we've switched to. That milk (expensive!) is my daughter's favorite. A cold chicken salad, substituting curried mayo for regular, and some home grown chopped herbs, is packed away in the fridge for noshing the next few days, a good option for a quick and healthier lunch.

We usually meet with a Torah study group on shabbat, but didn't this week because it's an hour drive each direction, and we all needed the rest. And rest we did! I got some much-longer-for reading time in, and each of us ate, napped, and spent time reading and together throughout the day. It's so nice to touch base during this time, and recharge our batteries, and reconnect to God and family. I feel encouraged and ready for the week ahead!

This week I'll be trying to organize some areas of the house, and do some deep cleaning. It's probably no coincidence that Spring Cleaning also coincides with the yearly cleaning in preparation for Passover.

I write in depth about my journey in biblical Judaism, and family practices in my private blog (not this one, which chronicles our homesteading attempts), so I'm kind of keeping the topics separated and not including that much of those thoughts here. But spirituality involves the entirety of lifestyle, if it's real, so it's not always going to be easily corralled to my other blog in every respect :)

J is at his night job, which I'm still adjusting to. At least he gets home sooner than he did with his other job. I have projects to outline as we kick off this new week. But I'll enjoy a few more quiet hours with my book before the craziness ensues ;-)

Hope your day was restful, too!

Shalom