Saturday, November 19, 2011

Gorgeous Christmas Cactus



Babcia's cactus


Monday, November 14, 2011

Vegetarian Kielbasa for Christmas

Here' a new twist on Vegetarian foods...
Kielbasa shortbread.



How about crackers and cucumber slices?
Green and orange food colouring in shortbread.

I must admit this was a stroke og genius after making a mistake with shortbread.  I was originally going to make candy canes.  One rope red and one white...but the mistake I made was following an untried dough recipe out of a "Christmas Book", that wasn't very impressive.  The dough was too fragile and kept breaking.  So no patience from my end I just squished all the dough together and was going to chuck it.  But as I was marbelizing it I thought OMG this looks like Italian smoked sausage.  So I rolled it, chilled it, sliced it and Voila

 " Kielbasa".

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Jewish Potato Latkes

Had a craving today....not much of a diet food but me and the scale aren't in sync with each other today,   so I just peeled a potato and said " I'll just have to take my chances"

Enjoy today, pay tomorrow!



 




Had to share half with the neighbors because these were just too good.....and would be too tempting to snack on.

4 Bakers potatoes grated
1 small onion grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
salt and pepper
Veggie oil to fry in

Grate potatoes and leave in cold water until ready for use. Cold water keeps them from turning brown. When ready squeeze the water out of potatoes and put in a bowl. Beat the eggs till frothy and pour over potatoes and onion. Sprinkle in flour and baking powder.  Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour enough oil  to give you 1/2 inch in the frying pan.  I heated mine to medium high (7) and found that temperature allowed me to cook all my batches to a beautiful golden brown without the oil getting dirty and needing to be changed before you're finished.  I had three full fry pans and they were beautiful latkes.  Sour cream is a must to have on these.

Dreaming about spring already

I'm already dreaming about a Cathedral Bell Vine that I want to plant next spring somewhere in my windy yard.  These are just beautiful and will grow beautifully here if you find the right sunny spot.
They grow about 4-5 feet.



Sunday, November 6, 2011

A Lovely Story of Narcissus and the Lake



The Alchemist picked up a book that someone in
the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages,
he found a story about Narcissus.
The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth
who daily knelt beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty.
He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell
into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower
was born, which was called the narcissus.
But this was not how the author of the book ended the
story.
He said that when Narcissus died, the Goddesses of the
Forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh
water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
"Why do you weep?" the Goddesses asked.
"I weep for Narcissus," the lake replied.
"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they
said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you
alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."
"But..... was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked.
"Who better than you to know that?" the Goddesses said
in wonder, "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each
day to contemplate himself!!"
The lake was silent for some time.
Finally it said:
"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus
was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my
banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty
reflected."
"What a lovely story," the alchemist thought.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A Lovely Story About Me



A Lovely Story About Me

One day long, long ago, there lived a beautiful woman who did not whine, nag, bitch or drink.

(That would be me.)

 

But that was a long time ago and it was just that one day.