Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church. We had a beautiful service this morning! As I was watching Zachary from the balcony (Hibi and I have joined the choir) serving as alter boy, carrying a palm frond, I was remembering and chuckling at a memory of him at age 4. We were in church on Palm Sunday, and we always brought something for him to do in church when he was young. That morning he had markers--I didn't usually like to bring markers because of the quick error factor--meaning just a quick swipe accidentally (or on purpose) could cause pretty big damage. But he had markers. He was sitting down coloring and I was standing up, so my back was to him. I heard a small gasp behind me, from the people sitting behind us. I looked back, and Zachary was sitting there coloring every square inch of his hand and forearm with a green marker. I said, "oh, Zac, what are you doing???" He said, "I'm a palm!"

On Palm Sunday in the Orthodox church, a small mitigation is allowed from our fasting. We are allowed to eat fish on this day (as well as Annunciation). As vegetarians, we have sometimes allowed ourselves to eat a bit of dairy on this day instead. Today we didn't but we didn't miss it. Here's what we had:



Artichoke Pasta

Pull off the outer leaves from four large artichokes. Trim the stems (but don't cut all the way off!) and the tops and submerge in cold water with lemon juice. When all are trimmed, steam in a steamer basket (I use a metal colander) in a big pot with a small amount of boiling water at the bottom. Steam until tender.

Cut artichokes in half and scoop out the choke. If you don't want any prickly and tough leaves, take them all off but the very most inward tender leaves. If you don't mind spitting out the inedibles and want to eat as much as possible fromt the artichoke, leave all but the toughest on. Slice the artichokes.

In a big saute pan, saute three cloves of sliced garlic and two diced carrots. Add the sliced artichokes and about 3/4 cup white wine, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Cook while you bring a big pot of water to a boil.

Cook a package of fettucine. Add salt and pepper and more wine if needed. Toss with fettucine and serve.