Pork & Apple Pie

The past few weeks have been quite busy, and this past week particularly so.  The pastor has been away on retreat where he will remain until the end of this coming week. I've been covering all of the sacramental ministry, doing my usual homily preparation and RCIA teaching, and also preparing to train a new batch of altar servers and other liturgical ministers.

In the midst of all this busyness, and the darkness and wet of November in Portland, I've been pretty tired of late.  I was therefore very much looking forward to an evening of good food and friends to lift the spirits.

Luckily, this time of year our little group has a tradition of gathering for pork and apple pie - a good hearty meal for the fall and winter months, and made from the apples the Noems and I picked up on Mt. Hood.

As usual, Ken Hallenius was responsible for the filling and the pie crusts were made from the Gallagher family recipe. Only this year the baker was not Fr. Jim Gallagher, csc but his sister Mary. With Jim re-assigned to Notre Dame, the youngest of the Gallagher clan and newest member of the North Portland Social Club admirably took his place.

I hosted the event this year, and with our dining room still under construction (more on that in a bit) we ate in the community room.  It was a most enjoyable and restorative evening!