Author Archives: patty

Embrace Life

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Dearest Boo, I saw this on “YouTube” and I just had to share it with you.  It reminded me of one of my favorite Bible verses:  Isaiah 11:5-6  “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.  The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling  together; and a little child will lead them.”  The “sash around his waist” part reminds me of our seat belts and how they are a sash around our waists.  And the part about “a little child will lead them” reminded me that it was our children who lead the campaign to buckle up and wear our seat belts.  This video clearly brings home the fact that when you are in a car accident, and not wearing your seat belt, it is not just you that will be injured.  It will be every member of your family, they, too, will be hurting when you are hurting.  I love the image of the daughter wrapping her arms around her daddy, as if she were the seat belt.  And the wife wrapping her arms around his chest, as if she were his shoulder harness.  Beautiful and thought provoking.

I remember that when you were young people just did not wear seat belts.  For what ever reasons we just were not getting the message.  Then you started school and were “brain washed” in a good way about the importance of wearing seat belts.  You became the police dog who has been trained to attack and not let go.  Every time we got into the car if we were not wearing our seat belts you were this little “Seat Belt Nazi” who would insist that everyone buckle up or else!  Your voice took on the characteristics of Regan, in “The Exorcist” when the devil would take over her body.  I was fearful of you and did not want to see your head spin around if I did not buckle up – so I did.  And am I ever grateful for that powerful lesson.  In that case a little child did lead me to practice better safety.

To be honest, I thought that all children in your school were being “brain washed” in the same manner, but one incident brought that into focus for me.  We were selling our van and our good friends (Beth’s of “Beth’s Dip” fame) were considering buying it from us.  For some reason I had the two boys (ages about five and three at that time) and we needed to go on an errand.  We loaded up into the car and I saw that they were not putting on their seat belts.  I explained to them that they needed to buckle up, as the van would not not move until everyone had on their seat belts.  They buckled up and we took off.  About ten minutes into our drive I heard a seat beat come unbuckled, so I said that the seat belt needed to get buckled or the van would stop.  I did not hear a “buckle”, so I pulled to the side of the road and sat there until I heard that little “click”.

About a week later I heard the boys version of what happened.  It seems that the five year old came into his home crying his eyes out telling his mother that he did not want them to buy our van.  When I told him that the van “would not go” unless everyone’s seat belts were buckled I meant that I would not put the car into drive.   Bless his little heart – he understood it to be that the car itself would stop all by itself until all seat belts were buckled.  He did not want this “monster robot” van!  What a kill!  Their little brain logic just is not capable to make the leap that it is the driver controlling the car – not the car controlling itself.

Speaking about a little person’s brain logic, I still cannot get over the fact that when you were a munchkin you loved mac and cheese.  However, you did not like the homemade kind.  Oh no, the ONLY type you would eat was the Kraft Blue Box.  I could hardly believe it.  My little Foodie did not like the homemade kind with four cheeses.  Our backyard neighbor was an excellent cook and I so envied her skills.  One time we were sharing stories/recipes for mac and cheese.  I had to laugh.  She could not make mac and cheese, so she only made the Kraft Blue Box and her daughter hated it!  We laughed and said that we should plan mac and cheese on the same night and trade daughters for this one meal.  We never did, but it was an interesting thought.  I am so thrilled to know that as your body grew, so did your taste buds.  You now love home made mac and cheese.  This recipe is a bit lower in calories (385/per serving) and I was able to sneak in some veggies (both zucchini and asparagus), however calories from fat is artery clogging (82%).  Pretty sure that next time if I use fat free sour cream and milk it will be better.  Joy Rising!

Cream  Pasta  Sauce  With  Zucchini

Prep  Time:           20 minutes

Cook  Time:          30 minutes

Bake  Time:           15 minutes  at  400 degrees

Source:                  www.recipezaar.com   #36419

Ingredients:

  • 2  1/2 T butter
  • 1 T all-purpose flour
  • 1 c sour cream  (next time I will use fat free sour cream)
  • 1 c half-and-half  (next time I will use 1% milk)
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1 whole zucchini, shredded
  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 1 box spiral pasta
  • fresh shredded parmesan cheese, to taste
  • black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Cut off woody ends of asparagus
  3. Place asparagus onto baking dish; sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Gently toss.
  4. Place asparagus into oven for about 20-25 minutes to roast.   Once roasted let sit in baking dish until needed.
  5. Place pot of water onto stove, add salt, place on high.
  6. Once pot boils add the pasta and cook to slightly less than al dente  (this will finish cooking in sauce).  Drain pasta.
  7. Peel and shred zucchini.
  8. Place zucchini onto kitchen towel; fold in sides and gently squeeze to remove excess water in zucchini.
  9. Place skillet on stove and melt the butter.
  10. Stir in flour; cook for one minute, stirring constantly.
  11. Add in sour cream, milk and lemon.
  12. Cook until heated through.
  13. Add in the zucchini and asparagus.  Cook just until bubbly.
  14. Add in the pasta.
  15. Add parmesan and black pepper to taste.

Serve with nice green salad.



“Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez” – Let The Good Times Roll

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Dearest Boo,  yesterday was a good day for me, as one meal reminded me of two of my favorite cities in North America and one of my favorite times of the Christian calendar.

We were forced to have one of my all time favorite things for supper – breakfast.  I don’t know what it is about me, but I cannot eat a big breakfast and there are so many good things that are classified “breakfast”.   Like omelets, and waffles, and pancakes, and french toast, and quiche, and donuts, and scrambled eggs, and muffins.  The best part about being a “grown-up” is that I can eat whatever I like, whenever I want.  So, tonight for supper we had breakfast!  And not just any breakfast, but a specific breakfast for a real and specific reason.  Pancakes!  And why pancakes you may ask………..easy, it was Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday.  And Fat Tuesday reminds me of New Orleans.  Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras, the festival New Orleans, Louisiana, that this city celebrates loud and proud . “Gras” is French for fat and “Mardi” is French for Tuesday.

In ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday, refers to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday.  The annual festivities(Mardi Gras) start on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany, when the three kings are supposed to have visited the Christ Child, and build to a climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.  This  day is often known as Pancake Day. Making and eating such foods was considered a last feast with ingredients such as sugar, fat and eggs, whose consumption was traditionally restricted during the ritual fasting associated with Lent.

There are traditionally forty days in Lent, which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbor). Today, some people give up a vice of their’s, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.  I try hard to add a “good” habit to my daily life.  For me, to try to eliminate a “vice” for forty days just did not work out, as I would go back to that “vice” on Easter Sunday.  For example, giving up sweets during Lent.  Once I would wake up Easter morning all I could do was stuff my face with jelly beans, chocolate eggs, cookies, cakes…….whatever I could find.  That just was not getting me closer to God.  However, I found that if I would just incorporate one practice into my life that would bring pleasure to God and help me to lead a more Christian life it would bring the whole meaning of Lent and Easter closer to my heart.  This year I will get back to my Bible reading each and every night.  Not only will this get me more in tune to the season, but falling asleep with the words of my God will help me to sleep more soundly and restfully.

Back to our supper.  Not only did the pancakes honor New Orleans, but they honored the Olympics.  In honor of the Olympics, that are being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, we also added a healthy dose of real maple syrup.  Vancouver has to be one of the most beautiful and clean cities in all of North America.  About nine years ago I won a trip to Seattle and Vancouver from the company I worked for at that time.  This company yearly honored about 125 employees company-wide that had performed above and beyond what was expected.  My manager nominated me for turning six retail stores, that all were operating in the red, into all highly profitable stores.  At the awards dinner in Vancouver I was then honored, along with twenty-four other employees, with an all expense paid trip to Hawaii.  Sa-weet.

Vancouver impressed me so as every night, once all the stores and restaurants closed, there was a huge crew of workers out cleaning up the streets.  We would go to bed, with the streets full of litter, and wake up the next morning to totally litter free streets and sidewalks.  Amazing.   Pretty sure that your dear cousin, Amanda, must have trained this cleaning staff.  That child is amazing!  I wish I could bottle her up and sell her as the world’s best cleaning product.  We would make a fortune.

I believe we stayed in, what is now called, the Fairmont Hotel.  It was built in the late 1930’s and has a distinctive green roof is made of oxidized copper. The exterior has carvings of mythological figures such as griffins and flying horses, and parapets embellished with Gothic gargoyles with the interior mainly mahogany, brass and crystal.  The carpets were lush and thick and the bathroom floors were all marble, with claw foot bathtubs and gold fixtures.  I loved it!  I felt just like a princess during my stay, as I thought it looked just like a huge old castle.

One day we were blessed to take a bus to Butchart Gardens.  The Butchart Gardens is one of the world’s premier floral show gardens. Robert and Jennie Butchart established their home on the land that Robert quarried for limestone for his cement plant.  When the limestone supply was exhausted Jennie began to shape this magnificent landscape in 1904.  Jennie, conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit. From farmland nearby she requisitioned tons of top soil, had it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart, and used it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under Jennie Butchart’s  supervision, the abandoned quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken Garden.  By 1908, reflecting their world travels, the Butcharts had created a Japanese Garden on the sea-side of their home. Later an Italian Garden was created on the site of their former tennis court, and a fine Rose Garden replaced a large kitchen vegetable patch in 1929.  Through successive generations of the Butchart family, The Gardens has retained much of its original design, and continues the Victorian tradition of seasonally changing the outstanding floral displays.  Robert Gutchart took great pride in his wife’s remarkable hard work and added to the scenery with his “collections”.  A great hobbyist, he collected ornamental birds from all over the world. He kept ducks in the Star Pond, noisy peacocks on the front lawn, and a ill-tempered parrot in the main house. He enjoyed training pigeons at the site of the present Begonia Bower, and had many elaborate bird houses stationed throughout Jennie’s beautiful gardens.  Flowering cherry trees line the road into the gardens, completing a breathtaking nature experience.  Oh, how I wish I had a camera with me for this trip.  It is one place I would love to go back to visit.

Here is our favorite pancake recipe, that you insist I make with chocolate chips.  And we must, must, must have real maple syrup.  If I were thinking I would have dashed to the store to purchase Canadian Bacon, just to complete the Olympic theme.    I kind of like this picture as it looks like Quatchi, one of the Olympic mascots!  Joy  Rising – Joie la Hausse!


Griddle Cakes

Prep Time:              5 minutes

Cooking Time:        2-3 minutes per side   medium-low heat

Source:                   too long ago to remember

Ingredients:

  • 1 c all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 T sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 c milk
  • 3 T melted butter  (or you can use bacon grease)

Directions:

  1. Measure out milk; add egg.  Mix together.
  2. Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar to the egg/milk mixture and mix together
  3. Add melted butter (or bacon grease) and mix together
  4. Pour into pre-heated pan pour out equal amounts into shapes.
  5. Cook until bubble fill the surface (about 2 minutes).
  6. Flip and cook other side until brownede (about 2 minute).

Here’s The Church…..Here’s the Steeple

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Dearest Boo,  when you were a wee, tiny one you so enjoyed taking things apart, just to see what was inside.  I totally blame this on myself.  I was the one that introduced you to the nursery rhyme, “Here’s the Church”.  I was the one that insisted on teaching you how to do the hand part.  I was the one that showed you by cutting apple slices through the center horizontally will allow the stars to present themselves into a star shape.  I was the one that showed you a sand dollar and how, when you break it open, five little “bird” shells will fall out.  I am to blame on your passion for knowing what is inside.

When you were in grade school there was not one broken electrical appliance that you did not take apart, or at least try, to take apart to see what was inside.  You called them your “experiments”.  The last “experiment” that I remember was coming home to see you sitting calmly on the floor in the middle of our family room.  The entire carpet was covered with parts of a radio.  Perhaps I had a budding Thomas Edison on my hands?  No. You promised me that you would be able to put it back together.  After several days we both could tell that that was not going to happen, so then your promise turned into the statement that you would clean up your mess.  After several days I got a trash bag and threw all the parts, components, wires, whatever into the bag and out to the trash.  I guess I had a budding Oscar the Grouch living with me.

You next moved on to “potions”.  The counters in the kitchen and bathroom would be covered with your messes where you were experimenting on mixing on thing with another.  As a parent I learned to “pick my battles”.  On this one I felt that by my encouraging you to mix up “potions” this would increase your curiosity and joy when you got to high school and took your required chemistry class.  Perhaps I had a budding Madame Curie on my hands?  No.  I guess I had a budding Dr. Bunsen Honeydew living with me.

The good news is that through all your learning I learned to like to know what is inside of things, how is you mix A with B you will get C.  You may be wondering what in the world I am trying to say.  Well, the point of all of this is that I found this awesome idea on one of my favorite blogs (http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2010/02/heart-cake-tutorial.html).  This young mother is just amazing in the projects that come out of her kitchen.

Your Aunt Charlotte’s birthday is today, Valentine’s Day, so I just knew that I had to try this for her.  This took me forever to try it.  And how dumb that was, as it is just a cake.  What is the harm that would come from it if I failed?  One of favorite women once said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every expierence in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along'” (Elenor Roosevelt).  It took two tries all on my own, before Amanda had the tutorial on her website showing how she did what she did.  Finally, after two failed tries, we had success and that was only because I found the directions.

Here are the final cake box, the final cake and the second attempt’s “inners”.  Your Aunt Charlotte did call and said that she liked the cake and, without any hints on my part, knew what was inside.  So I am guessing it was a success.  I will have to try this again, just so that I can see the “inners” for my own self.

Here is the box

Too cute, right??

And here is the outside of the actual delivered birthday cake:

Four layers of delicious cake and yummy buttercream frosting.    Topped with strawberry cake crumbs.  Is your mouth watering yet?

And, finally, what you have been waiting for……..the “inners” of Practice Cake 2….

That’s right…………………it’s a heart “inner” cake!  Don’t look too close, as you will see that I clearly don’t know what a heart looks like.  Hopefully, I learned from this one and my actual cake’s heart was more pointed in the center.  I had a delivery service take it to your Aunt Charlotte at her work, just so that she would be surprised and not know who sent her this masterpiece.  But alas, I failed to tell the young man who was doing the delivery to take off the paper with the address as I feared Aunt Char would recognize my handwriting.  And she did……the jig was up.

And speaking of the poor delivery man………..I forced the remaining half of  the cake off onto him.  He must have thought that I was some kind of witch, like from “Hansel and Gretel”, as I was running around the house giving him any leftovers I could find.  The poor man could not get out the door fast enough!  On the plus side, all sweets are cleared out of our home, at least for today.  For directions on how this awesome cake is made please go here http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2010/02/heart-cake-tutorial.html.

Bottom line, on this day of love, what most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.  That is what I want you to remember, Boo.  It is not how much you do, but how much Love you put into the doing that matters (Mother Teresa).  This cake was filled with Love that you could see and Love that you could taste.  Joy Rising.