Meals as a Mrs. ~ Empanadas de Carne de Res (Pepperidge Farm Argentinian Beef Turnovers)

Our September Good Godly Grub last fall was centered around the Pope's visit to the United States.  Therefore the theme that was selected for that month was to try our hand at Argentinian food in honor of Pope Francis' heritage.  I made Empanadas de Carne de Res (Pepperidge Farm Argentinian Beef Turnovers). 

These turnovers were a lot of work to make for a final result that the girls at GGG (and Adam) enjoyed but personally, they were not a favorite of mine, and I am unsure if I would make them again.  When we were gathering the ingredients at the grocery store, I told Adam I was going to skip the olives and the raisins (since they aren't my favorite foods) to which he said to do no such thing as those are what make the beef turnovers Argentinian.  So, I tried to keep an open mind (and stomach) and while the turnovers were successful, they just didn't whet my palate since I'm not a big olive fan.  However, I was glad to have tried this recipe as it pushed me beyond my comfort zone and I discovered that there are pastry sheets in the frozen section so that I can try to make other pastry recipes in the future.  I also got to work on my hardboiling of eggs technique.  ;)

This was the first time I was able to use our new pastry brush!

 

May 23rd was our wedding date.  We were given the choice between that date or April 11th when we met with Fr. Louis back in Summer 2014.  I had always dreamt of a fall wedding in October but knew that I didn't want to wait that long to get married.  I also didn't want to have a wedding (and a honeymoon) in the middle of the school year so we opted for a May wedding instead of a fall one.  When folks first found out about the date, they asked if it had any special significance.  Adam and I previously had celebrated the 21st of each month since we started talking on October 21st but the 23rd?  Nope, no meaning behind it!  

It wasn't until this past year, when we celebrated our first anniversary, that I learned of a saint's feast day pretty close to our wedding date that also happens to hold significance.  Early on in Adam's and my courtship, a conversation took place about impossibilities becoming possibilities when Adam was in California and I was on the other side of the country in North Carolina.  This infamous conversation eventually led to being the theme of our relationship including when Adam whispered in my ear, just after our vows on the altar, that first, the impossibilities became possibilities then at that moment they all became reality. 

So, in light of all this, you can imagine my surprise when I learned something new about a saint around the time of our first anniversary late last month.  Previously, I had always thought of St. Rita of Cascia as being the patron saint of abused spouses.  When one of my nephews visited us for a quick overnight stay over Memorial Day Weekend, we read from the special saint book before bedtime.  He selected the story of St. Rita.  For more information on St. Rita, you can read her story here.  At the conclusion of the story, we learned that her feast day is May 22nd, her name means "pearl" (so does mine in Greek!!?), and she is called the "saint of the impossible".  

So that means last year when we were rehearsing for our wedding, it fell on the feast day of someone known for overcoming the impossible.  How fitting when we think of our theme of impossibilities becoming possibilities and how closely connected to the feast day our wedding was without planning it!!