“Go back to your books, to your armchair. Plant your trees, watch them grow. If more people valued home above gold, this world would be a merrier place.”

— Thorin Oakenshield

Latest Posts


  • Quezon’s Budin

    I grew up with cassava growing beside the house, outside our fence — so, not our property, but free to use since no one was using the land at the time. My mom tells me they used to plant it… Continue reading

    Quezon’s Budin
  • Sausage on Curried Lentils and Rice

    This is one of those use-what-you-have recipes, so I don’t provide amounts. Continue reading

    Sausage on Curried Lentils and Rice
  • Grilled Tuna on White Bean Salad

    A super-quick and easy salad to put together, topped with grilled tuna. Canned tuna can be subbed, of course, just so happened that my local fresh fish monger (Seafood Station) had some fresh tuna and I couldn’t pass it up.… Continue reading

    Grilled Tuna on White Bean Salad
  • Sticky Toffee Pudding

    This is a dessert that not a lot of people talk about these days, though knowing that fads come and go, I’m sure one day people will remember it and start looking for the recipe again. I love this recipe… Continue reading

    Sticky Toffee Pudding
  • A Mother’s Prayer

    Years and years ago when my kids were still little, I came across this prayer in a newspaper (might have been Our Sunday Visitor), that a mom said she prayed every night after tucking her kids into bed. It was… Continue reading

    A Mother’s Prayer
  • The Fifth Joyful Mystery: A Tale of Two Vocations

    For the past several months I’ve been meditating a lot on the Fifth Joyful Mystery, more than I used to. For one thing, I had been wondering why this mystery is called JOYFUL. Whenever I read or hear the Gospel… Continue reading

    The Fifth Joyful Mystery: A Tale of Two Vocations
  • The Gift of Cancellation

    Cancel Culture isn’t new, though the phrase is (relatively). People have always cut off ties when relationships no longer work for them. Anyone who has lost friends/a significant other knows this. Social media just made it worse — “friendships” became “easier”,… Continue reading

    The Gift of Cancellation
  • The Gift of Pain

    Years ago, a wise friend shared that she doesn’t pick her Lenten penance anymore, because God knows what she needs during the season of Lent and she trusts Him to send that penance her way at the right time. (I’ve… Continue reading

    The Gift of Pain
  • Week of February 12, 2023

    And the numbers keep rising. Lord have mercy. Turkey-Syria quake deaths to top 50,000: UN relief chief Anyone else excited about this RomCom from EWTN? So many similarities to the book I’m writing (my male protagonist is atheist/agnostic Jamie who… Continue reading

    Week of February 12, 2023