A VEGETARIAN DELIGHT

I like to pick up something when I'm shopping that I've never cooked before. This time it was an eggplant. Fifty-five years old and I've never made eggplant!
As usual, I got online and looked up recipes. Ratatouille!!!
Yep, that's the one. Back to the store for more veggies.

After much dicing and slicing, it was ready for the oven. Forty-five minutes later, I got my first taste of this vegetarian delight.

It's a good thing that it is delicious because there is a lot of it!

Time to share some samples!!

OF WRINKLES AND PEAS

I detest wrinkles. On my face or in my sheets, doesn't matter. I want them gone.

When I had Bell's Palsy, I was made even more aware of my facial wrinkles because the side that was paralyzed didn't have them. Seeing my two different profiles was a shock to me.

Having wrinkles on the bed drives me crazy. I wake up with indentations on my skin from where I had lain on a wrinkle. If I were to win the lottery, I would hire a maid to come in every other day just to change the sheets. A fresh set every other night sounds like heaven to me.

People laugh when I tell them that. I say I have the Princess and the Pea Syndrome.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea

Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. There were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones. There was always something about them that was not as it should be. So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
     One evening a terrible storm came on; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
     It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate. But, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down from her hair and clothes; it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she said that she was a real princess.
     Well, we'll soon find that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bed-room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider-down beds on top of the mattresses.
     On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
     "Oh, very badly!" said she. "I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!"
     Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds.
     Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
     So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
     There, that is a true story.

 

ADDED BENEFIT

I recently updated the store window for the season, incorporating Groundhog Day, Valentine Day, March Madness and St. Patrick's Day.
For me it was an escape from the darkness of winter.

I know it has been dreary but almost certainly we have had a few sunny days since I did this window. That is why I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed this added benefit just yesterday!

I feel it!

DOING THINGS A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY

Some of my interests include cooking, herbalism, and reading. Sometimes these interests intersect in unusual ways. I have found some very different perspectives in my search for books that include my interests. I'd like to share a few of these.

I was searching for a good pie recipe when I came across this:

Snitz Pie

1 gal apple butter                   1 c. brown sugar

3 gal applesauce                     1 tbsp. salt

2 1/2 c tapioca

   Mix well (no heating needed) and then put into unbaked shells.

Bake at 350 degrees. Makes enough filling for about 30 pies.

Pie Dough

6 lb flour                               3 lb. lard

1/2 c brown sugar                 1 1/2 tbsp. salt

1/4 c baking powder

   Yields about 18 pies.

Hmm. Do I double the dough or halve the filling?!

There is also a recipe for Snitz for Pies;

   Put one bushel apples through apple peeler, but don't use peeler, just use slicer and corer. One bushel fills a 12 quart, 8 quart, and 6 quart. Set on top of woodstove for 12 to 18 hours or until apples are soft. Do not add water. Put through Victoria strainer or ricer and add:

3 tbsp. cinnamon                2 tbsp. allspice

1 1/2 tsp. salt                      15 c. sugar

          Makes 9 to 10 quarts. Cool pack for 20 minutes.

I'd better set aside a weekend for this project!

Another fascinating find came about when seeking more books on herbs and natural remedies.

Under Receipts (I think they are referring to recipes):

No. 20. - For Palsy.

   First let the patient thoroughly cleanse the blood with burdock root, then take one ounce of umbril, called lady slipper, half pound of angle worms, half pint of spirits turpentine, fourth of a pound of lobelia seed, one ounce oil origanum, one ounce oil of spruce, one ounce oil of cinnamon, four green frogs alive, put these all in a stone vessel, under a heap of rotten manure, well stopped up for ten days, then take it out and strain it, and rub the afflicted parts with it, and wrap the parts in flannel as warm as can be borne, let the patient drink plenty of sage, pennyroyal, or horsemint tea, for a constant drink, and I warrant them a speedy cure.

No. 94.- For the cure of the Epilepsy.

   Take some of the after birth of a woman, wash and pound it well, after mix it with rye flour, in order to make bread with it, and bake it in an oven, the patient must take the weight of half an ounce of it, to eat, morning and evening, every first day of the first quarter of the moon.

   The most part of the remedies that have been given for the apoplexy, may also be used in this case; therefore, they may be resorted to when necessary.

I'd like to think that maybe an apple a day will keep the doctor away!!!

LISTS

I am one of those people who makes lists. You know the type, the one who has a list for everything but most importantly so they have something to cross off as if it's a badge of accomplishment.
Lists of things I want to do. Lists of things I need, to do the things I want to do. Yada,yada,yada. Of all of the lists that I make there is one that gives me the most pleasure, satisfaction and spiritual uplift. My gratitude list.
It is a list of ten things that I am grateful for. The first few are easy. I'm continually grateful for my health (which is pretty good for my age) and for friends and family both near and far. I am grateful for where I live, safe and secure in the country.
At this point I have to stop and think. That's actually the best part because this is where my gratitude runs deepest and less obvious.
I am grateful for my car. It's been reliable and allows me to get to and from work. Also, I was able to pay for it when I bought it. Boy, times have really changed for me. Another thing to be grateful for.
Only half way there. What else am I grateful for?
I'm grateful that I have an abundance of choices. Choices in what foods I can eat, choices about who I associate with, choices about where to live, where to work. So many people do not have all of the options that are available to me.
I'm grateful that I am aware of all that I have. I once had a moment of epiphany while driving to get dog food. I was upset at my lack of funds and the need to drive a few miles to the store. It suddenly occurred to me that there are people who have to walk that far just to get water, and not very pure water at that. Perspective increases my gratitude.
I am grateful for the desire to increase my spiritual nature. This has led me to face my own shortcomings. To grow. To become more tolerant. To find contentment and peace with where and who I am.
My gratitude extends to the challenges I have faced and those that are yet to come. I remember a friend who I would go to in times of 'crisis'. Always, she would say, "God really loves you. You've been given another growth opportunity." I found it aggravating at the time but I realize now the truth of that.
One more now. I am grateful for people that I can look up to. People who live by their principles and beliefs. I see that they, like myself, sometimes struggle but diligently carry on. Their example helps me to continue to strive to be better, do better.
Finally, my list is done, for now. I find that I make this list anew several times a year. It is something I recommend to everyone.
When is the last time you've made a list? Try it soon. I promise that you won't regret it.

SHOES

I love shoes. When I moved I decided I should cut back to 6 pairs. I finally settled on a dozen...plus a few more. I don't know what it is about wanting just the right pair to go with my wardrobe (four dressers full!) but I simply couldn't let them go.

Weatherproof work boots are a must of course.

And, of course, everyone needs a pair of all-purpose comfortable shoes.

Not to mention the I HAVE to HAVE those shoes!

So when your favorite pair wears out, you can buy another pair just like it!

Everytime!

We might need a bigger shoe closet...hmm.

ICE

Beautiful but dangerous. The ice arrived overnight.

Leaving the driveway and road more like skating rinks than places to drive a vehicle.

Just watch these college students try to get around by clicking on the link!

slip sliding away