The sequel: Thanks for coming back! Let’s hope this issue isn’t a sophomore slump.1 I hope you all had an excellent week, even though the weather has been all over the place and the national news has been quite heavy.
What I did this week: Here is everything I wrote for Catholic News Agency since the last issue dropped. Any commentary in The Thursday News Dump is my opinion,2 and not reflective of anyone else or my employer.
“Kentucky Catholic Conference praises school choice law” Kentucky has, for the first time, passed school choice legislation in their General Assembly.
“Biden administration moves to resume Title X funding of pro-abortion groups” The Trump administration changed the rules of Title X back to how they were during the Reagan era; President Biden is now changing them back to how they were before Trump was president.
“Boston Archdiocese calls for life without parole for Boston bomber, after Supreme Court agrees to consider death penalty” I had a nice chat with the Archdiocese of Boston after the Supreme Court agreed to consider re-sentencing Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death.
“USCCB condemns racist violence, prays for victims, after Atlanta shootings” Fairly self-explanatory. The USCCB offered prayers after the horrific shootings in the Atlanta area. My interview with Bishop Solis, who co-authored the statement in this article, should be published later today.
“Pro-life Democrats appeal to Jimmy Carter to save the Hyde Amendment” Democrats for Life of America is asking the man who signed the Hyde Amendment into law3 to flex any sort of influence he still has in the Democratic Party to bring it back.
“Fr. Michael Pfleger, still under investigation by the Chicago archdiocese, says he’ll return to ministry” I expect to be writing an update to this story in the near future… in the meantime, here’s the latest about what is going on in the South Side of Chicago.
Recipe of the week: There’s been more than a few studies about how Millennials do not know their neighbors. Having just moved into my place in December, during a time period where people are encouraged to not leave their homes, I am definitely in the frighteningly large percentage of my generation who does not have any relationship with the people who live nearby.4
In an effort to buck this trend, I reached out, literally, to my across-the-hall neighbor in my condominium complex. As in, I wrote a note introducing myself and dropped it off at her door.5 I had only seen my across-the-hall neighbor once since she had moved in at the start of the year, but judging from our similar doormats, I had a sneaking suspicion we could be friends. Or at least acquaintances.6
Anyhow, in the note, I invited her to dinner, which she accepted. So I made us this week’s recipe of the week: Instant Pot penne alla vodka.
I first discovered this recipe on YouTube a few years ago7 and it’s been in my rotation ever since. It serves a small army of people, it comes together in like half an hour, there’s barely any prep work, and, most importantly, it tastes amazing.
I make a few modifications to the recipe posted on the Pressure Luck website: I double the garlic,8 I use fresh garlic instead of the stuff from the jar,9 I use 2.5 cups of marinara sauce instead of 3.5, and I do not add cream cheese.10 And while the recipe on the site is “rigatoni alla vodka,” the recipe on the website calls for penne…which I recommend as well.11 Sometimes the dish needs salt when it’s all done cooking, but your taste buds may vary.
The dinner went well, and it turns out I have a ton in common with my across-the-hall neighbor. We got along great. Was it my sparkling personality, or the penne alla vodka? I’d say the jury’s out, but the pasta definitely didn’t hurt.
Moment of zen: In January, I adopted two kittens that I named Alexis and Moira. They are very small, very fluffy, and very, very mellow.
Alexis is the calico; Moira is the white and gray cat.
Alexis likes to be held, and sometimes she sits on the couch like she’s a person. Moira is snuggly, and likes to cuddle up to someone when they’re sitting on the couch. They both have bright green eyes and are obsessed with their wand toy.
They are twin sisters, and they were apparently discovered on the side of the road in West Virginia. Somehow, they made their way to King Street Cats, and then, by the grace of God, to me.
I actually gasped the first time I saw them at the shelter. They were so fluffy and tiny! Alexis and Moira, being kittens, immediately fell asleep and were completely unbothered by my presence.12 The volunteers at the shelter convinced me that it was actually a good thing they didn’t seem to mind being around me, and before I knew it, I owned two kittens.
It’s been somewhat stressful having to care for two living things, but overall, it’s been great. They’re wonderful company, were excellent “nurses” when I was recovering from surgery, and they have the funniest personalities.
Which brings us to this moment of zen.
Typically, Moira is the more lovey kitten. Don’t get me wrong, Alexis is a bundle of love herself, but her love language is much more of the “quality time” variety13 versus “acts of service.” Moira is typically the one doing the grooming and the snuggling.
Except for the other day, when this magic happened:
(Of course, Moira had to return the favor a little while later.)
People, myself included, thought I was a bit nuts for getting two cats. But I cannot imagine the two of them existing happily without each other, and I’m so happy I have them both.14
Throwback Thursday: I got a tattoo four years ago yesterday, when I was on a pilgrimage to Israel. I never, thought I’d get a tattoo, ever, until I stumbled upon this article in Aleteia. I have the distinct memory of thinking to myself, “well, on the off chance I ever get to go to Israel, that’d be a cool thing to do.”
As life would have it, that “off chance” presented itself less than a month later, and suddenly I was booked on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for March 2017.
After a few lovely days in Tiberias, my group made its way to Jerusalem on March 24, 2017. We spent the morning at Yad Vashem, a sobering experience, before going to lunch at the Mahane Yehuda Market. After lunch, we were told that we would have a few hours to nap and recharge before we would head out to the Western Wall that evening and a shabbat dinner with a local family.
As my strategy whilst on trips tends to be “I can sleep when I’m dead,” I eschewed the suggested nap and instead wandered off by myself to the Old City and got a Jerusalem Cross etched into my right wrist at Razzouk Tattoo.15
While this wasn’t a spontaneous decision by any means—I had contacted the shop prior to my arrival in the country—it was definitely out of character for me. My fellow pilgrims were…surprised, to say the least, that the relatively quiet16 person who had been surreptitiously going to Mass and praying the Rosary17 during the trip had gone off and gotten the most permanent of souvenirs.
Four years out, the tattoo has healed and aged extremely well, and I’m still quite happy with it. It’s a conversation starter, for sure,18 and I like that I put myself in a position to quite literally wear my faith on my sleeve.
I’m going back to the Holy Land, God-willing, this November. I’m undecided if I’m going to get a follow-up pilgrimage tattoo.
Parting thoughts: Thanks for reading and thanks for subscribing. I hope you’re liking what you see here—please feel free to reach out or comment if you have any suggestions for future issues. This weekend, I’m competing in my first feis since last February, and I’m really excited and nervous. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and happy Feast of the Annunciation!
Perhaps it will be the comeback of the year?
Which should also be your opinion, let’s be real.
I actually wrote a term paper about the evolution of abortion in the DNC platform from 1968 to 2016; perhaps I’ll elaborate more at some point in a future issue.
It does not help that I also am terrible with names.
Look, I know this is super creepy, but I wasn’t sure about her comfort level with the Covid and everything. I WAS TRYING TO BE NICE!!
Or at the very least, not mortal enemies.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Pressure Luck was the first YouTube food channel where I realized I could set the speed to 2x and finish the video quicker.
Obviously.
Again, obviously.
The first time I omitted this ingredient was out of laziness, and I haven’t gone back.
I’m not sure why the recipe is called “rigatoni alla vodka.” “Penne alla vodka” is totally valid.
I guess that’s all you can ask for in a cat.
As I type this, she is curled up and taking a nap about one foot away from me on my bed.
Additional cat pic spam can be found on my Twitter, @Crousselle.
The same tattoo shop featured in the Aleteia article. We love a full circle moment!
Look, I tend to clam up in situations where I’m uncomfortable.
This pilgrimage was run by an Evangelical Christian organization and I was the sole Catholic on the trip.
Or ender, to be honest. I’ve been on multiple dates where the man has abruptly stopped talking when the edge of the cross pokes out from under my sleeve and the topic immediately switches to “tattoo!?”