Saturday 10 May 2008

Thoughts on Being a Mother



Being a mom means carrying a wonderful gift around inside you for nine months. From the moment you know it's there, it's real . . . it's your baby and you love them. You would go through fire for them, to hell and back for them. That's it . . . you're a mom . . . forever and ever after. You sit in your chair and you cradle your belly in your arms and you think special thoughts as you caress it and hold it close with the only thing you can at that point . . . your heart. From the very first butterfly flutters to the last gargantuan rolling abouts . . . you relish every moment, every movement, from hiccups to kicks and punches. You're a mom.



Then the day finally comes and they're ready to be born and you are so filled up with excitement that you can't contain yourself. You feel like jumping up and down , an excitement that is tempered with a pain that is at once excruciating and yet wierdly blissful. You are filled with the wonder of what is happening and joy and amazement . . . and a final awareness of all that your own mother did, and went through . . . just so you could be here.



Little do you know that the easy part is done. What follows is a lifetime of joy, and pain, and worry, and pride, and sleepless nights, and long weary days, and wonder and every emotion from the lowest to the very highest, and everything in between. Once a mother always a mother, be your child two seconds, two days, two years or two decades old . . . your baby is always your baby . . . and ever will be. You celebrate the good times and you mourn the sad times. Like a mother bear, you would protect this life that you have created out of love, with every ounce of your being, to the death if necessary, and beyond.



When they are young your days are busy and filled with more activity and chores than you can sometimes cope with . . . with baby steps, scraped knees, and tearful faces, giggles and hugs, sticky kisses and broken hearts, first teeth and lost teeth, lessons learned, piles of dirty laundry that never seem to get any smaller, bedrooms that are never picked up, mismatched socks and homework, homemade cookies and birthday cakes, report cards and concerts and prayers and stories told . . . little do you know that you are building memories with each achievement, however large or small . . .



Before you know it they are grown, and your hands that once had more work than they could handle, are now empty and longing for a braid to tweak, or a neck to scrub, for the feel of tiny arms clinging and holding you close, and the sounds of laughter in rooms that suddenly seem too large and empty and silent, where once they were crowded and full of noise. Once there were not enough hours in the day . . . now every minute seems like a lifetime, and you would give anything to hear that door slam at the end of the day, and for a cheery voice to ring out . . . I'm home, what's for supper . . . You wonder where the years all went and you would give anything to once again be the sum total of their world, and yet at the same time you are grateful and glad that you gave them the knowledge and the strength to be able to stretch their wings and fly . . . you're a mom . . . and ever will be . . .

Happy Mother's Day to all my North American readers. May it be a day filled with wonder and love and Happy Memories!

I am just getting home from work. I've been awake now for 26 hours and am off to bed. I hope you'll forgive me for sharing a recipe with you this morning that I shared previously on my Marie's Muses pages. I just don't have the energy for anything else as I am fading fast! This is a recipe that is both delicious and low in fat!



*Barbeque Pork with Mop Sauce*
Serves 6

Wonderfully lean pork filet covered in a deliciously spicy rub and then roasted in the oven just until done, so that it is moist and flavourful, this dish is a real winner. I love the tangy spiciness of the sauce which accompanies it. Any leftovers make a delicious hot sandwich when shredded and heated in any leftover sauce.

2 TBS dark soft brown sugar
1 TBS paprika
1 TBS mild chili powder
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pork tenderloin fillets (1 ½ pounds), trimmed of all visible fat
For the Sauce:
1/3 cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 TBS molasses
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat your oven to 230*C/450*F. Line a baking tray with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, cayenne and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Rub half of the mixture into and all over the pieces of pork. Let stand for 15 minutes.
At the end of the 15 minutes rub the pork with the remaining spice mixture. Place on the baking tray and bake it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until just done. (this all depends on the thickness of your pork. It may take longer or shorter time) The end result will be beautifully moist pork, just pink in the middle, which is perfectly acceptable. ( Any more done than that and it is too dry. Most people overcook their pork) A meat thermometer will register an internal temperature of 71*C/160*F.

Make the sauce while the pork is roasting. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat down to very low and keep it warm while the meat cooks.

Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into 12 thickesh slices. Serve with the sauce.

16 comments:

  1. Ooooh! I like the sound of that sauce! And I love pork - yum yum!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can share recipes like that however many times you like Marie. It looks wonderful. Have a nice and relaxing day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie: That mop sauce sounds very nice. The pork looks good, too. Hope your feet aren't hurting too badly. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope you get some sleep! Happy Mother's Day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That was truly beautiful and you brought tears to my eyes! I'm sitting here right now with a little wiggly baby in my belly--almost close to gargantuan rollings.

    Happy Mother's Day to you, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Clever you, putting the music on. I didn't know where it was coming from for a minute and thought it was Keith playing the radio too loud in the garden! I'm making this recipe for lunch tomorrow - will dark brown sugar do instead of molasses?
    love, Angie, xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Marie,
    First of I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful Mother's Day.
    My name is Angela and I have been an admirer of your blog this past couple of months after I stumbled on it quite by accident.I am from Malaysia,a tiny country between Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south.
    I have read all your past posts in this blog as well as the other two you used to write on.I have learnt ever so much from you not only in culinary aspects but mental and spiritual as well.In a lot of ways my life mirrors yours or at least pre-Todd anyway and through you I have managed to find the inner strength and patience to bear all that life dishes out.My day is not complete till I have perused your blog for the nuggets of wisdom invariably inserted in among your beautiful words.So I tank you from the bottom of my heart for indirectly being there as a source of comfort.
    May your patience,generosity and virtuous spirit be blessed thousand fold by the Good Lord and have a blessed Mother's Day.
    With kind regards,
    Angela.
    P.S.I hope you aren't offended that I addressed you by your first name instead of calling you Aunty which is the respectful term used to address someone older where I come from.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fearless Kitchen10 May 2008 at 16:27

    This looks like a great recipe. Coincidentally enough, given your comments about Mother's Day, my mom would absolutely love it. I'm going to try to send it to her in a way she can use - she's not the most technically adept of women.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Have a wonderful Mothers Day Marie...you are truly blessed:D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Marie,

    What a wonderful post!!! I just love the way you write. "Happy Mother's Day" to a great person !!!

    Judy - Scottsdale, AZ

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you so much for this recipe. I had planned to make something similar tonight and will now try your recipe. Hope you rest well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you so much for this recipe. I had planned to make something similar tonight and will now try your recipe. Hope you rest well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. this was just a delight to read. Have a blessed Mothers Day dear friend in the Uk.en.. My daughter says you are from the UK-en... cute huh ??? Love, Mica

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy Mothers day!! I loved the pics!!

    http://journals.aol.com/ukgal36/Britsblog/

    ReplyDelete
  15. A beautiful post. Happy Mother's Day to you. And God Bless you.

    Carrie

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a wonderful post! You have captured the essence of the joy it is to be a mother!!

    XX
    E

    ReplyDelete

Your comments mean the world to me, and while I may not be able to address each one individually, each one is important to me and each one counts. Thanks so much!