CSA, Cooking and Easter Vigil

Heidi and I joined a “meat CSA.”  It’s short for community supported agriculture; we pay $255 for three months and the second Friday of each month we pick up our share of frozen meats.  It feels kind of like a drug deal in the gentile Naperville parking lot: I drive up to a non-descript green Chevy Suburban with its back doors open, I tell them my name, hand them a check and put the insulated bag and cartons of eggs into my Honda’s trunk.  It’s weird, but cool.  Here’s this month’s share (each month is about $80 worth of meat and eggs):

After the covert pick-up on Friday afternoon, Heidi and I chilled on Saturday morning.  And now I know that there’s nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than to cook a 6-hour ragu!  The recipe I learned in Italy is only to take 40 minutes, but I prefer to let it slow-cook and simmer away all the juices.  After sautéing onions, garlic, celery, carrots and mushrooms, I added the sausage and ground beef and then an ENTIRE bottle of Sangiovese wine to let it reduce.  Here’s the start with the whole bottle of wine:

And while it was still reducing, Heidi made our lunch: poached salmon on spinach greens:

And then the wine kept reducing, and reducing, until it was almost gone

I added the tomato sauce and let it keep simmering for another four hours until we were ready to eat dinner.  Which we chowed down in order to make it to the Cathedral on time …

… for Easter Vigil (my first ever!).  St. James Cathedral hosts an Easter Vigil the Saturday before Easter.  Heidi had a parishioner being confirmed and another one being received; it was a cool worship service and even cooler moments of Christian initiation.

The service starts in darkness, and then they light a candle:

which they use to light a cauldron

And then light the Paschal candle and process it to the front of the sanctuary.  The two-hour service goes through readings from the Hebrew scriptures.  The story of creation was told via liturgical dancers.  And I almost universally loathe liturgical dancers; but Dawn and Cecelia were amazing!  If liturgical dance could always be that good, I’d be in favor of it being in services more.  One of the women went into the aisle and narrated the creation story; the other, danced around like God and paused at different moments to say “it was Good!”  SO AWESOME.  Then one of the college students dramatized the Ezekiel “dry bones” passage.  Then some of the choir chanted a Psalm.  And then I think there was another reading (I need to check the worship order again to make sure).

Then came the baptisms, confirmations, and receptions by the Bishop of people wanting to enter the Episcopal church.  Nick, one of Heidi’s high schoolers was confirmed:

And Vince, one of the adults who’s found a home at St. Benedict’s, was received

After the initiations, the Bishop preached an Easter sermon from St. John Chrysostom.  It’s powerful and moving, even without the organ bellows moving us as well.

What a Saturday …

… and what an Easter Sunday.  There’s much to be thankful for!