tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43788238507767232082024-02-19T01:16:02.111-06:00OrthoPractical in MississippiPractical advice on living as an Eastern Orthodox Christian in South Mississippi.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-85910358497347695342014-12-16T10:49:00.001-06:002014-12-16T10:49:29.840-06:00Peace on Earth, good will to all men<p dir="ltr">Today is a routine day in Chancery Court. Some days are good, and some are not. But in a routine day, if we are fortunate, peace may be had, if only for a little while. Rarely are issues clear-cut; but in cases where the issues are clear-cut, peace may be had.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-37135696846752335092014-12-08T11:27:00.002-06:002014-12-08T11:27:28.527-06:00More than midway through the fast<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And once again, I am re-reading Fr. Thomas Hopko's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Pascha-Readings-Christmas-Epiphany-Season/dp/088141025X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418058374&sr=8-1&keywords=the+winter+pascha" target="_blank">The Winter Pascha</a> and finding it immensely useful. The book is well-structured for brief daily readings, and highlights both the liturgical worship and the language of the prayers of the Advent period. In particular, Fr. Tom spends a great deal of time highlighting the parallels between Advent and Great Lent, without falling into the trap of type and fulfillment language that obfuscates the real differences between the two joyous fasts.<br />
<br />
Of particular interest in this regard is Chapter 28, entitled <i>Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh</i>. Fr. Tom makes a careful note of the difference in Eastern and Western theology regarding the Twelve Days of Christmas at the very beginning of this chapter (the East focusing on the Baptism of Christ, and the West on the Adoration of the Magi), before carefully analyzing the various hymns of Christmas Eve and Christmas focusing on the gifts of the Magi.<br />
<br />
I haven't attended the Christmas Eve Vigil in English in years, and so I find this chapter is a wonderful reminder of the beautiful anticipation of Christ's birth the Magi experienced. The troparia from Compline of Christmas Eve include these two beautiful hymns:<br />
<br />
The riddles of the soothsayers<br />
And the diviner Balaam are now fulfilled.<br />
For a star has dawned from Jacob,<br />
Leading the Magi, Persian kings bringing gifts,<br />
To the Sun of Glory.<br />
<br />
The error of Persia has ceased,<br />
For the stargazers, kings of the East,<br />
Bring gifts to Christ the King of all at His birth:<br />
Gold, frankincense and myrrh.<br />
Bless Him, O Children, and praise Him, O priests,<br />
Exalt Him, O people, throughout the ages.<br />
<br />
The second hymn in particular echoes the refrain of the Song of the Three Youths, who figure prominently in the feast of the Fathers of the Old Testament: "Praise the Lord, sing and exalt Him above all the ages!"<br />
<br />
The next hymn Fr. Tom refers to is from Matins of Nativity, and continues the theme of the pagans of the East, who symbolize the Gentiles, coming to seek Christ, and also contains further reference to the Old Testament Fathers:<br />
<br />
The daughter of Babylon<br />
Once led David's children captive from Zion,<br />
Whom she had taken with the sword.<br />
But now she sends her own children,<br />
The Magi bearing gifts,<br />
To beg the Daughter of David in whom God came to dwell.<br />
Therefore let us raise up the song:<br />
Let the whole creating bless the Lord,<br />
And exalt Him above all forever.<br />
<br />
Fr. Tom continues on to discuss the symbolism of the three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is taken by the Church to symbolize Christ's kingship over Israel, as the Son of David. Frankincense is the sign of Christ's divinity, as frankincense is used for worship only, and only God is worthy of worship. Finally, myrrh is the solemn sign of Christ's coming crucifixion and resurrection.<br />
<br />
In closing Chapter 28, Fr. Tom highlights the importance of the Magi as signs of the conversion of the Gentiles to the worship of God, by quoting two hymns, the first from compline on the Eve of the feast, and the second from compline on the feast:<br />
<br />
The kings, the first fruits of the gentiles,<br />
Bring Thee gifts at Thy birth in Bethlehem<br />
From a mother who knew no travail.<br />
With myrrh they point to Thy death,<br />
With gold, to Thy royal power,<br />
With frankincense to the preeminence of Thy divinity.<br />
<br />
When the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah,<br />
Magi coming from the East<br />
Worshipped God made man.<br />
And eagerly opening their treasures,<br />
They offered Him precious gifts:<br />
Refined gold, as to the King of the ages;<br />
Frankincense, as to the God of all;<br />
Myrrh they offered to the Immortal One<br />
As one three days dead.<br />
Come all nations let us worship Him<br />
Who was born to save our souls.<br />
<br />
Amen.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-69929619831914034532014-08-14T12:31:00.002-05:002014-08-14T12:31:34.282-05:00Ever wondered what monks know about marriage?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From a homily of St. John Chrysostom on marriage:<br />
<br />
You have heard how important obedience is; you have praised and marveled at Paul, how he welds our whole life together, as we would expect from an admirable and spiritual man. You have done well. But now listen to what else he requires from you; he has not finished with his example. Husbands, he says, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church. You have seen the amount of obedience necessary; now hear about the amount of love necessary. <b>Do you want your wife to be obedient to you, as the Church is to Christ? Then be responsible for the same providential care of her, as Christ is for the Church. And even if it becomes necessary for you to give your life for her, yes, and even to endure and undergo suffering of any kind, do not refuse. Even though you undergo all this, you will never have done anything equal to what Christ has done. You are sacrificing yourself for someone to whom you are already joined, but He offered Himself up for one who turned her back on Him and hated Him. In the same way, then, as He honored her by putting at His feet one who turned her back on Him, who hated, rejected, and disdained Him as tie accomplished this not with threats, or violence, or terror, or anything else like that, but through His untiring love; so also you should behave toward your wife.</b> Even if you see her belittling you, or despising and mocking you, still you will be able to subject her to yourself, through affection, kindness, and your great regard for her. There is no influence more powerful than the bond of love, especially for husband and wife. A servant can be taught submission through fear; but even he, if provoked too much, will soon seek his escape. But one's partner for life, the mother of one's children, the source of one's every joy, should never be fettered with fear and threats, but with love and patience. <b>What kind of marriage can there be when the wife is afraid of her husband?</b> What sort of satisfaction could a husband himself have, if he lives with his wife as if she were a slave, and not with a woman by her own free will? Suffer anything for her sake, but never disgrace her, for Christ never did this with the Church.<br />
<br />
- A selection from On Marriage and Family Life by St. John Chrysostom, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986.<br />
<br />
This is powerful stuff. My cousin likes to joke that his wife has the easier part. Too often I see marriages that disintegrated from fear and despair. The text from Ephesians (5:20-33) that is read in every Orthodox wedding is often regarded as being full of dread requests for wives to obey their husbands; but if you read it carefully, the bulk of the text that the Church gives us focuses on husbands loving their wives, and wives loving their husbands. The marriage is the tool of salvation for the married, as monasticism is the tool of salvation for the monastic.<br />
<br />
Original link: http://www.roca.org/OA/121/121b.htm<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-60681649661613943622014-07-20T17:11:00.000-05:002014-07-21T17:38:04.788-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Defeat the Plastic Bagging<br />
This amazing thing happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRJN1dVi1thtlEW5MyBC9mRiikrvOB0W0YhlUtKxuJaSYSEKm17Iz8xJ48rDn0N8ef4RCGGxMJbAzU0xKUFjuomLIHbdKAzWBt51jk7QgtNj5ncuyhhNvojbP2XCzPmR1Etks59GW9Mw/s1600/DSC_4504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRJN1dVi1thtlEW5MyBC9mRiikrvOB0W0YhlUtKxuJaSYSEKm17Iz8xJ48rDn0N8ef4RCGGxMJbAzU0xKUFjuomLIHbdKAzWBt51jk7QgtNj5ncuyhhNvojbP2XCzPmR1Etks59GW9Mw/s1600/DSC_4504.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplbIEbr46bqdTkniggm2bVnbqSGPmwg1y_kHJQcLxMZm3ligi8zyqgfgAwT4KjMnkJQd6ENrtfc4jMhsWPK0K8sYQZOY2_wUgEETa1POT13AIhUBPikgUoLw2Bnss9UTeJqWOwNdfZnE/s1600/DSC_4506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplbIEbr46bqdTkniggm2bVnbqSGPmwg1y_kHJQcLxMZm3ligi8zyqgfgAwT4KjMnkJQd6ENrtfc4jMhsWPK0K8sYQZOY2_wUgEETa1POT13AIhUBPikgUoLw2Bnss9UTeJqWOwNdfZnE/s1600/DSC_4506.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
Alex has even started either drinking a cup every morning or eating some cold cereal. I didn't even ask him.<br />
<br />
I make rectangles of yarn that I intend for this or that but really get too infested with dog hair, and I undo them so much that I hardly make any progress. I just threw several away. But. I sat down and crocheted a <i>circular thing</i>. It's off-white. I want to crochet a long scarlet airy fairy thing around it to make a table runner, but I got bored with that so I thought I'd make... a .... SECOND .... <i>circular thing</i>. The off-white one I just did <a href="http://www.babybulletblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/shy-baby1.jpg">what came natural</a> one evening, but I wondered what use a circular thing might be so I headed to <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/190277152981083856/">Pinterest</a><br />
<br />
I'm more of an oral tradition crocheter. I've seen crochet patterns since I've been exposed to the internet, but everything I've actually done has been shown to me.<br />
<br />
Omigosh--- I'm crochet illiterate!!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nooooooooooooooo.com/">Nooooooooo!</a><br />
<br />
So this "fifteen minute project" took me several days. I spent --oh-- half an hour transcribing and researching vocabulary words and five minutes of crocheting a day. This is my first butterfly:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTvFyCFnCL__bMz0iwwUF-47lRtSEu7rTCYx7Nxr3CVtsN2mr4sJdNXJ36RTtJAqcu3EawTCXWqSS7PjWvWFzlPendP17vUTuLrjQs3DWmH79nS_gfjaUvLSrLPDpLzHGk7pQYhqBLdA/s1600/DSC_4534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTvFyCFnCL__bMz0iwwUF-47lRtSEu7rTCYx7Nxr3CVtsN2mr4sJdNXJ36RTtJAqcu3EawTCXWqSS7PjWvWFzlPendP17vUTuLrjQs3DWmH79nS_gfjaUvLSrLPDpLzHGk7pQYhqBLdA/s1600/DSC_4534.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
My photographer seems to have been aiming for my head instead of the project so you can see my roots and several white hairs but not a straight on view. Tsk... tsk... tsk..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i_TPWJ9FUzdZOjUmLy4ChLv1ZUGRiOIRGsA6KSRXVh1leBIdM0S3YArOCZ_nL1VS_dpxq3mDLKnORnZrRRBxrGSH3yh3wTtvue7qLieYfJdXFrDAubsHBWRPnnciT0egq6tufuxP520/s1600/DSC_4574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i_TPWJ9FUzdZOjUmLy4ChLv1ZUGRiOIRGsA6KSRXVh1leBIdM0S3YArOCZ_nL1VS_dpxq3mDLKnORnZrRRBxrGSH3yh3wTtvue7qLieYfJdXFrDAubsHBWRPnnciT0egq6tufuxP520/s1600/DSC_4574.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
From left to right is the order I'm making the butterflies. The yellow/white and yellow/yellow-begun are for very stylish Non-Ortho friend who loves yellow. I turned the yellow/white one into a flower because I got messed up by the different weights of yarn. I also made her an yellow/goldenrod butterfly.<br />
<br />
The reason I include <u>chapstick</u> in this photo is as an ambassador for young women. It <i>is</i> chapstick. But it's got a shine and a mirror on the cap. Look for Lip Vibrance if this battle reaches your ground. Tastes like strawberries.<br />
<br />
<br />
I made some <a href="http://dessertswithbenefits.com/homemade-pop-tarts/">pop-tarts</a>, with all the fervor of a three weeks absence of a recipe project! It used an oat and brown rice flour that I made in our spice grinder with homemade 100% fruit blueberry filling. I ate three. Alex ate at least two. I gave Non-Ortho friend the rest when Alex remained sick.-- and you can bet your beeswax candles I'll be experimenting more with some home ground oat flour.<br />
<br />
Electronic and Western.<br />
<br />
me <br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-7911523579009858832014-06-02T19:44:00.000-05:002014-06-03T17:41:32.770-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Laundry, How Exciting!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Wow! We finally finished putting up laundry!"<br />
<br />
"Only to get ready to do it again next week!"<br />
<br />
After a moment I said, "You do know how some define insanity..." Laundry can drive you <i>insane</i>. Bewarned. Stawp. Bathing. NOW.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKV5NQCLckpl5SMMVUTk9v51sZqw5VpNfuZHvYgYoS-PQMYtsIFboC-EGApfG7YoKl6Xue5DeFcfh22NHKZtt6qqoDTfQA7gg3OAo4i9QsvnzpZXrcXl3mHD_N7TxHnx3lAerPqYiB0k/s1600/DSC_4192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKV5NQCLckpl5SMMVUTk9v51sZqw5VpNfuZHvYgYoS-PQMYtsIFboC-EGApfG7YoKl6Xue5DeFcfh22NHKZtt6qqoDTfQA7gg3OAo4i9QsvnzpZXrcXl3mHD_N7TxHnx3lAerPqYiB0k/s1600/DSC_4192.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You see that trail up above? I'd like to say that I don't use an
electric dryer, but no... That's exactly what it looks like; it's a dog
run. </td></tr>
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I've always wanted a laundry line. As a kid, I tried to make them. Some lines worked for a bit, but I just didn't have the know-how and resources to make something substantial. My parents were not in favor and viewed it as something akin to tent making-- which my brother and I did as well. I eventually convinced my dad that I really wanted a clothesline, that I'd hang it all up (I already did the lion's share of folding.), and that it'd save him money.<br />
<br />
We talked about it again and again. He wanted me to pick a spot, then he'd set some poles in concrete. I was firmly against putting concrete in the ground. It reminded me of nothing except setting up a mailbox. It seemed so permanent. He eventually explained that the reason my lines fell down is because they didn't have this strong infrastructure. He could make me a line, but it'd be no better than mine unless I let him use concrete. I thought. I weighed it. I wanted a clothesline, but the responsibility of permanently marring the family land was greater. So it never happened. It's a case of if only I knew then what I know now as I've now helped take down and set up a pipe and concrete line. They're not so very permanent after all. ;)<br />
<br />
Anyhoo-- I was very excited to see that Alex's house had poles for a laundry line! He had dug one up while working on the sewer system, but I eventually convinced him to set it back in and string me a few lines.<br />
<br />
I used it well one summer. We both use it sporadically now. We mostly use it for stuff that would take a bajillion million tillion watts-- rugs, towels, comforters. I've been using it every weekend since Spring. It's one more excuse to move, one more reason to get some vitamin D. If you've been reading, you know I've been all about getting my vitamins the past several months.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWobkrwrgDDo644uQy5WWOgBg5jDSg8NzrheYLk2Ow4pvaQSo6vgZ3VcpagD3yv0ogacnm0p3HwgX7RwptLSXuuwdT_vsBw9VnsHfPL7gPn7QZ2pb3sfMNMcA3-kEjlkB1nBO05bPy0k/s1600/DSC_4194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWobkrwrgDDo644uQy5WWOgBg5jDSg8NzrheYLk2Ow4pvaQSo6vgZ3VcpagD3yv0ogacnm0p3HwgX7RwptLSXuuwdT_vsBw9VnsHfPL7gPn7QZ2pb3sfMNMcA3-kEjlkB1nBO05bPy0k/s1600/DSC_4194.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wet laundry</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoE2EbST_6k3r-83GEt3jzQzf3NuzvEsLfIOMKX7LBHsB3eK2AL5wa6JAi82QRr69NzskLEpZbMTS-moU03BYTORsB5_HQeG0IROFfgGco7lJy3flQyNKnrBdM1UElhaqnj0iH8-oztU/s1600/DSC_4199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoE2EbST_6k3r-83GEt3jzQzf3NuzvEsLfIOMKX7LBHsB3eK2AL5wa6JAi82QRr69NzskLEpZbMTS-moU03BYTORsB5_HQeG0IROFfgGco7lJy3flQyNKnrBdM1UElhaqnj0iH8-oztU/s1600/DSC_4199.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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No, that is not THE rug. That's a rug I've had since 2004 when I moved to Hattiesburg. THE rug is prettier. <br />
<br />
So... <a href="http://soundbible.com/1947-Cowboy-Theme.html">to business...</a><br />
<br />
Is your trigger finger ready?<br />
<br />
Anchor two T-shaped bits of material (whatever's handy, metal will last) as you would a mailbox. Tie strong nylon ropes across. Just start at the back of your property and work towards the house. I have three lines. Closer together means longer drying time.<br />
<br />
Gather round. Gather round. Ima gonna tell ya what would take all of five minutes to figger out. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://couchlocked.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/goblingasp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://couchlocked.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/goblingasp.gif" height="272" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Ahem... Intimates... Since I live in a city and have neighbors, I do big flat things like towels on the back as a screen. Then... Ahem... 'intimates' go in the middle-middle.... in case some of the left or right neighbors are looking, I put something innocuous on the ends. Then, I put mostly big things on the front line facing the house.<br />
<br />
Strategy. *nods*<br />
<br />
Yah! Woo-hah~! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB-G6e-XBUG7uoBRX_s_qWl70TEXE2z6h7SsOoCYcJLuQJucmWnVB7prKAfX0GUG4qT65rpoBs1cwbSXInRvj0MyAl93cVMcH6bYdQ2R29bhRTLmGiMeLkHtvop5Yc20wQtQKYRF_6RY/s1600/DSC_4494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB-G6e-XBUG7uoBRX_s_qWl70TEXE2z6h7SsOoCYcJLuQJucmWnVB7prKAfX0GUG4qT65rpoBs1cwbSXInRvj0MyAl93cVMcH6bYdQ2R29bhRTLmGiMeLkHtvop5Yc20wQtQKYRF_6RY/s1600/DSC_4494.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's kinda romantical.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don't know that you could call that middle one white. It needs to be cut up into rags.<br />
<br />
I also make my own <a href="http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value">laundry detergent</a>.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYvvvBs8T3IxIMFe3rnNRSYKDCKxox43g_YoDDDe8skbAuc61SRTCuc1K-COp8arE57jeplixPlCxY9EmWJnJE6YAhk66va82_ZJ32a6BnlzwxYuCVOzKhKtXaw0ZN9d4mV_8k8GuMb8/s1600/DSC_4495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYvvvBs8T3IxIMFe3rnNRSYKDCKxox43g_YoDDDe8skbAuc61SRTCuc1K-COp8arE57jeplixPlCxY9EmWJnJE6YAhk66va82_ZJ32a6BnlzwxYuCVOzKhKtXaw0ZN9d4mV_8k8GuMb8/s1600/DSC_4495.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I forgot to wash whites last week so I hung a row catty-cornered. Do you
say kitty-cornered and catty-cornered?--or something else? I've heard
and read many varieties on this phrase</td></tr>
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There are also a number of wild strawberries behind the clothesline.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0MueccbSMcHZzFzdNaBbPkDljUmJRTTY9NaHJ-pkQJgERkbtoxNPz3hwojKYT4Jq46FRnX7vAMvg-bulVQ6uoJJzrmoSPmp8LezDSpV8aBUlXneOk5-gLLeP0O4cg06vonCanAYc3Sg/s1600/DSC_4496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0MueccbSMcHZzFzdNaBbPkDljUmJRTTY9NaHJ-pkQJgERkbtoxNPz3hwojKYT4Jq46FRnX7vAMvg-bulVQ6uoJJzrmoSPmp8LezDSpV8aBUlXneOk5-gLLeP0O4cg06vonCanAYc3Sg/s1600/DSC_4496.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
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Strange; isn't it? How when one knows what won's looking for, and where one might look for it, won tends to find onedrous things! </div>
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I've transplanted several into two baggies. Once I'm sure they'll make it, I plan to send them to my local forester, who helped me identify the plant.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggh0yMorObIlC8-anCM-JVcX60hWRORJHPEEA46Wj0QuqnRx9yHRisXH_zv-tcB0rVeIlAvCf2YYtlXAJDTN5dmFpbGlRzJbrQorzmW9lA1MLl5kszOSpKMgjrzWQ6k5OeyHZet-6k4E/s1600/DSC_4497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggh0yMorObIlC8-anCM-JVcX60hWRORJHPEEA46Wj0QuqnRx9yHRisXH_zv-tcB0rVeIlAvCf2YYtlXAJDTN5dmFpbGlRzJbrQorzmW9lA1MLl5kszOSpKMgjrzWQ6k5OeyHZet-6k4E/s1600/DSC_4497.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what romaine going to seed looks like.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidW3CEtjt1YFhvpGgR3PULLGJxG7FOjTylKOb5yUrWduwW99sj1UEQZfM1ipo3gh3_37d0wt6cpjDBSZqGNfu58U2Igg0d7Usv8VrGaQYIgLrR4ucQkI5eORMeCIHx6HRXs9w74wnJayQ/s1600/DSC_4500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidW3CEtjt1YFhvpGgR3PULLGJxG7FOjTylKOb5yUrWduwW99sj1UEQZfM1ipo3gh3_37d0wt6cpjDBSZqGNfu58U2Igg0d7Usv8VrGaQYIgLrR4ucQkI5eORMeCIHx6HRXs9w74wnJayQ/s1600/DSC_4500.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A close-up of the romaine flower... with an ickle wittle mite.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvdsm7qHfeeSf_b-FzZrkZe8m9kfb7_dnWGYw36waCALkEJUUNeyY5lslCCKrSCj-Gq0ZKncO4wHdgRgpINru2UaNmm4qfWatDCtiWmAIEG6mVLegNtUeZkGD9-7UOLzmNrbmeEoDIBg/s1600/DSC_4501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvdsm7qHfeeSf_b-FzZrkZe8m9kfb7_dnWGYw36waCALkEJUUNeyY5lslCCKrSCj-Gq0ZKncO4wHdgRgpINru2UaNmm4qfWatDCtiWmAIEG6mVLegNtUeZkGD9-7UOLzmNrbmeEoDIBg/s1600/DSC_4501.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the strawberry patch (Birdie dug up part of my border.) the lettuce patch, and the clothesline [EDIT: And the youngest blueberry bush]</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJFsUxp0urbLS3SjX0H3lfwJNjbV9C-O0Wm3co4ymEguV_Qu_Y6QGsbEmW5aUVV_JDhbj_XAkkzzk2_UW3o8aiVGv2pPASBnFI-s1dX0ASnS4spSHqykiVUqYehCmgwndlzyhyphenhyphenokHMRc/s1600/DSC_4503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJFsUxp0urbLS3SjX0H3lfwJNjbV9C-O0Wm3co4ymEguV_Qu_Y6QGsbEmW5aUVV_JDhbj_XAkkzzk2_UW3o8aiVGv2pPASBnFI-s1dX0ASnS4spSHqykiVUqYehCmgwndlzyhyphenhyphenokHMRc/s1600/DSC_4503.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrZPzxpe1pLWx5DZ1G0or9kCugn18NfnvVwILfEL7b9E_Dr_ufhkmdQ6HFHawl3noTRinzaXSRRblFSG4M4boABbaeE_O7L2lkftsaMyZPcXSDvpznXjTnw4WkSAXd1kWBe6pV6bEvqQ/s1600/DSC_4503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
I have several gardenia bushes. The ones in one place are ending their bloom while the ones in another are beginning. They smell terrific.<br />
<br />
<i>Love and Cookies,</i><br />
<br />
<i>me </i> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-41326170573030297682014-05-28T17:45:00.000-05:002014-07-03T18:50:54.986-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Dietary Iron by Calories<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 372px;"><colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 6582; mso-width-source: userset; width: 135pt;" width="180"></col>
<col span="2" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl67" height="20" style="height: 15pt; text-align: center; width: 135pt;" width="180"><b>By 100g</b></td>
<td class="xl67" style="text-align: center; width: 48pt;" width="64"><b>cal</b></td>
<td class="xl67" style="text-align: center; width: 48pt;" width="64"><b>%Fe</b></td>
<td class="xl68" style="text-align: center; width: 48pt;" width="64"><b>Cal/%Fe</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">thyme</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">276</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">686.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">0.40</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">parsley</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">276</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">543.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">0.51</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">marjoram</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">271</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">459.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">0.59</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">spearmint, fresh</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">44</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">65.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">0.67</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">thai tea, loose Pantai Brand</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">250</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">300</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">0.83</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">dill</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">253</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">271</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">0.93</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">cumin</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">375</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">369</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1.02</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">cinnamon</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">261</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">211.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1.23</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">oregano</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">306</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">244.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1.25</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">bay leaves</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">313</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">228.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1.37</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">basil</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">27</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">17.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1.53</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">turmeric</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">354</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">230.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1.54</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">black pepper</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">255</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">160.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">1.59</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">anise</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">337</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">205.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">1.64</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">oysters</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">125</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">62.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">sage</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">315</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">156.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2.02</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">rosemary</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">331</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">162.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2.04</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">blackstrap molasses</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">200</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">95.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2.10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">baby spinach</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">41.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">19.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2.10</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">paprika</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">289</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">131.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2.20</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">romaine</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">14</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">6.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2.30</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Japanese snack seaweed</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">320</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">120</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2.67</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">turnip greens</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">23.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">8.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">2.78</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">cocoa</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">229</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">77</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">2.97</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">arugula</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">25</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">8.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">3.09</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">coriander</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">298</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">91</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">3.27</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">frozen spinach</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">28</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">8.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">3.33</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">chicken liver pate<br />
plain pumpkin</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">201<br />
34 </td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">51.1<br />7.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">3.93<br />
4.42 </td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">tomatoes</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">32</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">7.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">4.44</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">brussels sprouts</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">36</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">6.7</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">5.37</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Boca burger</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">105</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">17.5</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">6.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">cayenne</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">318</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">43.3</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">7.34</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">red lentils</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">360</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">40</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">9.00</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">shrimp</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">119</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">13.2</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">9.02</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Persimmon</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">127</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">14</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">9.07</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">cucumber</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">13</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">1.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">9.29</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">butter beans</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">116.6</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">12.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">9.64</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">broccoli, frozen</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">29.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">2.4</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">12.25</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">beef jerky</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">410</td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">30.1</td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">13.62</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">beef 93% lean</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">142.8</td>
<td align="right" class="xl65">8.9</td>
<td align="right" class="xl70">16.04</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Anyone for curried greens? :P I'm definitely amping up the spices in my cooking!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-21162177231066209042014-05-23T19:39:00.000-05:002014-05-23T19:39:54.905-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Plant Sources for Dietary Iron, CalciumWhen I was younger I went through a period where I wanted to sleep all the time so they took me to the doctor.<br />
<br />
<b>DIAGNOSIS: Anemic</b><br />
<b>PRESCRIPTION: Eat a plate of fried chicken livers every Sunday after church.</b><br />
<br />
Yes, that's actually what the doctor said. He said I could put ketchup on them, if I wanted, and told my mom to ask for a certain guy in Big Star's meat department if she couldn't find any. Liver has an odd texture so we ended up pureeing it and adding it to meatloaf, cornbread dressing, beanie weanies, etc.<br />
<br />
Most of my life, I've been iron deficient, but other than that episode, it's not been a big deal.<br />
<br />
Boy did I get bad off towards the end of Lent. It got so bad because we didn't think anything was wrong. I was just tired. Then, we put all the symptoms together... Since then, I've been on an iron consumption CRUSADE! I've learned a lot so I'll share. :)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Personal Considerations: </b>I'm obese so all my options need to be low calorie. I'm also not eating commercially processed grains (pasta, cereal, sandwich bread) and am generally tending toward low carb (broccoli, apples, edamame, green beans, salads) options instead of higher carbs (potatoes, corn, bananas, grains). I don't want to spend a lot of money. I don't like pills (loop back a sentence).<br />
<br />
To think-- Alex used to be the picky one!<br />
<br />
From previous research, I know that thyme is a good source of iron that is very low cal. One teaspoon of thyme yields 9.6%DRV iron and is 3.9cal! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dogpictures.co/pictures/We_Have_A_Winner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dogpictures.co/pictures/We_Have_A_Winner.jpg" height="400" width="391" /></a></div>
In a previous dieting episode so as to meet my protein and iron goals, I had eight egg whites and three tablespoons of thyme for dinner... No amount of hot sauce can make that pleasant. As an easy way to overall increase your iron consumption, though, this is a useful fact. Sprinkle it on eggs. Put it in your soup. No calories left today and need iron? Sautee sliced mushrooms with thyme and red pepper flake-- but add a skosh* of olive oil if you can spare it. You can even sprinkle it on the mayo/Laughing Cow side of a sandwich or on luncheon meat roll-ups.<br />
<br />
The next good source is greens. Baby spinach salads were a go-to: 88g (dinner plate full) baby spinach has 36.2cal and 17.3% DRV Iron. I used a dressing of 1T apple cider vinegar+1/4t red pepper flake+1t olive oil and topped it with either 118g (4oz+) grilled chicken** and 3g (1/2T+) freshly grated parmesan OR 180g (1/2 large) cucumber sliced with a side of <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2283898">tofu</a> slab grilled on cast iron griddle. In addition to fresh spinach, I also added cooked spinach to my diet. Breakfast this week has been:<br />
<br />
1 egg<br />
101g (0.4c+) egg substitute<br />
1t thyme<br />
1/3 can spinach, drained<br />
<b><b>154cal 20pro 34%Fe 18%Ca</b> </b><br />
<br />
I did find something *!NEW!* this go round. Some Thai tea has iron! I just
happened to be browsing <a href="http://www.bkseafood.net/default.html">my favorite bulk and exotics store</a> (upcoming post devoted to this store), when I came
upon <a href="http://homes.hkcarter.com/Detail_i594257">this thai tea</a>
which gives 25%DRV for 15cal. I was all excited about this. It smells
divine and tastes pretty good, too. When I ran out, though, they didn't
have that brand. I looked through the other offerings which were mostly
milk and sugar, but then I found <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281189720287?lpid=82">this thai tea</a>, which is actually much cheaper at $4.99/lb.
One tablespoon is 5cal and yields 6% iron. Alex brews two tablespoons
in a 24oz Tervis cup for me every morning with two tablespoons of sucralose
(e.g. Splenda). This means breakfast is <b>164cal 20pro<i><u> 46%Fe</u></i> 18%Ca</b>. That gives me a good start, but you'll see below that I'm still struggling a bit.<br />
<br />
I ran out of cooked spinach Thursday, and as of Friday I now have neither cooked nor fresh so I'm adding one cup of turnip greens to my dinner. We have the Farmer's Market on Thursday here, and there were several greens to choose from. Here's a side-by-side comparison:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5W-MwRtiwD30ZHEKJNGhdABhOgwrv1JHWPWqLi-OD3h5Meqls_22ag0rK3x9br_wQT4Nfkw62G1ENoAch8vir-2pQkfoV_DgPYp3MC5HtqracGwijhG6oqfT2VJqiuhE8oAabn6VhUA/s1600/Greens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5W-MwRtiwD30ZHEKJNGhdABhOgwrv1JHWPWqLi-OD3h5Meqls_22ag0rK3x9br_wQT4Nfkw62G1ENoAch8vir-2pQkfoV_DgPYp3MC5HtqracGwijhG6oqfT2VJqiuhE8oAabn6VhUA/s1600/Greens.png" height="640" width="536" /></a></div>
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Cooking on cast iron pans also increases iron intake. Oh, and I've found the solution to my consistently low calcium intake. Silk Light Original Almond Milk:<br />
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It has fewer calories and MORE calcium than skim milk! --and look at that B12. I'm drinking one cup after work each day.<br />
<br />
A tofu steak also has 94cal 13%Fe 16%Ca. The other thing I've learned is that modest amounts of iron do add up to fill in the last of the gap.<br />
<ul>
<li>9cal romaine leaves to separate the chicken curry and cantaloupe in my lunch box(or for a lettuce wrap)=3%</li>
<li>82cal cantaloupe=3% </li>
<li>24cal of cucumbers on my salad=3%</li>
</ul>
While I've been diligent about increasing my iron intake since before Lent ended, I've just now started <a href="http://www.sparkpeople.com/">tracking my meals</a> again. This has also helped me really hone in on that 100% goal this week:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXH4V-8gjXQWY78wV0OTdwPcfhEM-hiCo2PEaR6l7UKFB5yyBC1yhMBi1DeRTQzvaTCmrem6iua-uGMjA0C_EUZGFbsz-GyB0s85qCrnW7zq-ted8uOGE34RnSPTv2qFFVqTjrfLioFzs/s1600/Minerals.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXH4V-8gjXQWY78wV0OTdwPcfhEM-hiCo2PEaR6l7UKFB5yyBC1yhMBi1DeRTQzvaTCmrem6iua-uGMjA0C_EUZGFbsz-GyB0s85qCrnW7zq-ted8uOGE34RnSPTv2qFFVqTjrfLioFzs/s1600/Minerals.png" height="102" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I've also discovered a new snack! For 14cal you get a <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/121135383387?lpid=82">small potato chip bag's worth</a> of seasoned seaweed along with 3g protein and 3%Fe! You can also get this in packaging that metes them out three <a href="http://img.21food.com/20110609/descript/1306149063738.jpg">3"X1" strips</a> at a time.<br />
<br />
<i>Hoping This is Helpful</i>,<br />
<br />
Practical Woman<br />
<br />
*From the Japanese <i>sukoshi</i> meaning 'a little, somewhat' inherited as US slang during the Korean War era.<br />
**One might think meat is a good source of iron. Not really... That 118g of chicken is 143cal yielding only 1%Ca and5%Fe-- though 27g of protein.<br />
<br />
PS: I'm sending the stars and moons to church this week. Should be tasty! ;) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-38701871420210636112014-05-03T15:23:00.000-05:002014-05-04T17:13:21.829-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Herb-loreI HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS!<br />
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But you're gonna hafta read through a buncha stuff I want you to know to get to it. I know. I'm positively <i>awful</i> that way.<br />
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After snugumpupsin' my Ozzbot while watching <i>Mr. Nobody</i> on Netflix Saturday morning, I headed out to complete an AMAZING PROJECT and take some informative pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YMr61RxGrEJlpuWCFgEgGo72FvJAm_vvFSTY_DoS3MhyCkAngc_pqIMMHCnPCWtldIEZuxI3k0ycCqIRPwQ78E9XIhw6CIiYx4tu1G4Wb6swrewCXcgynfUWkEYzRpYI2vO_ZRF0jbc/s1600/DSC_4243.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YMr61RxGrEJlpuWCFgEgGo72FvJAm_vvFSTY_DoS3MhyCkAngc_pqIMMHCnPCWtldIEZuxI3k0ycCqIRPwQ78E9XIhw6CIiYx4tu1G4Wb6swrewCXcgynfUWkEYzRpYI2vO_ZRF0jbc/s1600/DSC_4243.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
This is milkweed. There are different kinds of milkweed, but this is the kind I see most often.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukvshALCHAPfWpEqHEvFrLKTVYhyphenhyphengF5k6bnPDDu4cK5Jr9y86KDP9ikRD42pGCaFWGWxRG-BRPp7RlwewYgAJQwRWsI8ZEXaIz4IUkIwrpyknDZWJC_wnEdcqvmTJn1Snmtc-l2lTfmE/s1600/DSC_4245.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukvshALCHAPfWpEqHEvFrLKTVYhyphenhyphengF5k6bnPDDu4cK5Jr9y86KDP9ikRD42pGCaFWGWxRG-BRPp7RlwewYgAJQwRWsI8ZEXaIz4IUkIwrpyknDZWJC_wnEdcqvmTJn1Snmtc-l2lTfmE/s1600/DSC_4245.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
You can verify that it's milkweed-- beyond the appearance-- by breaking a bit off. A white foam appears. I know of no good use for these plants, and yes, they are poisonous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DyEU0qOGBpyvToo9GxWLXb2xvg3EzSvyAS6OZdJJkxVo00BZLLTtBatmsUwGV-01EE00kw8rXYGHEB_SUUP008sI_05041ddY9UxSw1otxzXyw8iVu0uOpRBqP-u9EYQhEsl-AbR8LU/s1600/DSC_4235.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DyEU0qOGBpyvToo9GxWLXb2xvg3EzSvyAS6OZdJJkxVo00BZLLTtBatmsUwGV-01EE00kw8rXYGHEB_SUUP008sI_05041ddY9UxSw1otxzXyw8iVu0uOpRBqP-u9EYQhEsl-AbR8LU/s1600/DSC_4235.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
An update on the lettuce patch! :) If I mention it in the blog often enough, Somebunny might lime that area next year, and we'll have free romaine. He's already paying enough attention to not mow it down this year!<br />
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That's the Bird sniffing it. We're going to let it go to seed again and hope for the best next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRtq568k0BJoWa6Ch6frIXGJ4UkMiZJgHTvkw4jQywID_OR3kbjdcS52UViKhyphenhyphengZ8YLDZ65oCfE-Vb6SLzhEbaKNAIYVlK3fTaDsJfUXSBXtfxGFdEMJJa6b5ajjKeIO7RpoisCR9QtY/s1600/DSC_4236.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRtq568k0BJoWa6Ch6frIXGJ4UkMiZJgHTvkw4jQywID_OR3kbjdcS52UViKhyphenhyphengZ8YLDZ65oCfE-Vb6SLzhEbaKNAIYVlK3fTaDsJfUXSBXtfxGFdEMJJa6b5ajjKeIO7RpoisCR9QtY/s1600/DSC_4236.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
One of my dewberries. I have five locations with two yielding at this point. We've eaten dewberries almost every day this week, just a few on top of strawberries and cream. Make that three yielding! I picked the first one from this one today.<br />
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I don't know the name of this wildflower, but it can be used as Spring onions, and it looks similar to garlic blossoms. <br />
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We had a different kind of wild onion back home that more resembled chives and had tiny bulbs. Kids would eat it as 'onion grass'. It was very common. We prolly had two dozen patches in a cleared acre. It grew easily, perennially, drought-resistant. I don't know why we didn't use it in the kitchen since it was so abundant, and we knew it was edible. Most of our food, though, was bland, boiled, and/or mush. No one uses garlic in their cooking where I come from. There's not a lot of herb, spice, or aromatic use in my people's cooking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqBJzspkTJ4E5S8ugnSQ9MuFPPYgOlmP-Pwdw6h8RK4r54o2ClpQ9yVfLlDwNmcPVrD9H1NCG2jlbQC1zwXwc2A8AFfADxlZxTYSmbNG0-2RyaXjkyWQ8YcZyUP5axf3OTCUjMCAkZUU/s1600/DSC_4258.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqBJzspkTJ4E5S8ugnSQ9MuFPPYgOlmP-Pwdw6h8RK4r54o2ClpQ9yVfLlDwNmcPVrD9H1NCG2jlbQC1zwXwc2A8AFfADxlZxTYSmbNG0-2RyaXjkyWQ8YcZyUP5axf3OTCUjMCAkZUU/s1600/DSC_4258.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
This is an awful photo of a dandelion. The leaves are very nutritious and at their best young-- prior to blooming-- so learn the leaves not the blooms. You can eat them in salad or sautee them or boil them like collard greens. People ate them during the Great Depression, and they are a good plant-source for iron. The roots can be boiled and brewed in to a tea which, I think, is a diuretic. Google says that's old school tradition that's unsupported, but that it's good for digestion and the liver. Harvest the big taproot (looks like a carrot), and wash prior to brewing. Don't wash plants until you're ready to eat them to slow decomposition. You can try drying slices to preserve it (dehydrator, if you're lucky or line a cookie sheet with a towel and place it on the hood of a car in full sun. Check on and turn every couple hours. We used to do this with apples, not dandelions, but same principle. Harvest in the fall.) or just treat it like potatoes or any other root.<br />
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People also blow the seeds off the stems and wish for things... it's very romantical... and it makes new plants for next year! :D<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBITDLo2QR1wsS95GQNc11ceMniCI-jinDLrlAwgRe2XGae9sA3_X60Uh2_Ag-NJsn-J9uhs5H2-084V8Y1ErqBvhgkaJGVWp9fdQtbgSA38dFtv1U1_xJir0MB5Jwvs0qMj33r7_Jqc/s1600/DSC_4255.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBITDLo2QR1wsS95GQNc11ceMniCI-jinDLrlAwgRe2XGae9sA3_X60Uh2_Ag-NJsn-J9uhs5H2-084V8Y1ErqBvhgkaJGVWp9fdQtbgSA38dFtv1U1_xJir0MB5Jwvs0qMj33r7_Jqc/s1600/DSC_4255.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
This is spiderwort. We didn't have these where I grew up so I've no idea if it's useful or hurtful. It's pretty and lasts a good long while in a vase, though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbGg16-zuiH-ilxRRtdg6Tt1r53OlAqNgAI_Ej9CXesP9tEz5JmOf0YKI7uPymTLdqF4Uvh6VndLisxR3F9KYHmhPhOCRrO1fBv7KJjEU4AsgqsBXwC20MC-u5SO6X1rgA4sKznZr2pU/s1600/DSC_4280.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbGg16-zuiH-ilxRRtdg6Tt1r53OlAqNgAI_Ej9CXesP9tEz5JmOf0YKI7uPymTLdqF4Uvh6VndLisxR3F9KYHmhPhOCRrO1fBv7KJjEU4AsgqsBXwC20MC-u5SO6X1rgA4sKznZr2pU/s1600/DSC_4280.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
This is centipede grass, so named for how it looks. It propagates mostly by very thick runners as you can see. A runner is when a plant puts out a tendril to start a new plant. See the green line left to right in the above photo. Where the leaves are, there are roots creating an independent plant. In between that, the tendril is called a runner. You can cut the runner, and each plant will likely still survive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzsMuHU3D990zzlgNBGJXiDNDZn5gixjhi-KQPpH14OuTUjCH1ai45ycQq8f-WjklkjgC1VViCyGyGkfeW79T9jdndlPOgdPalQyyJmoul0e1gcOlWeCoEs8ijOLLcCMF0VyxksXNLzo/s1600/DSC_4295.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzsMuHU3D990zzlgNBGJXiDNDZn5gixjhi-KQPpH14OuTUjCH1ai45ycQq8f-WjklkjgC1VViCyGyGkfeW79T9jdndlPOgdPalQyyJmoul0e1gcOlWeCoEs8ijOLLcCMF0VyxksXNLzo/s1600/DSC_4295.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is an earthworm. Where I'm from we have an invasive non-native species of worms called nightcrawlers that are about a foot long. They serve the same function: to help decomposition. Their poo is good dirt. You want lotsa worms in your yard. If by digging, you sever a worm in half, don't despair. Unlike a human, it will live. Place it in a cool, damp, bit of dirt that you're done messing with. Both types of worms are good sources of protein-- though I've not had cause to eat them quite yet!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRz7qhCCka82SwDVQgSi0PiGtn_jlpehf6B7fOMiXJ2LrN2zg2yB0e-Ra0cp0U0mwWciZ1Ww7a0k-sYMYbDayGYvGL4y8a902IcLU_OTGLIcxmvpZQDTCTm6E1nBJFGH3ZysSczotAp9c/s1600/DSC_4305.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRz7qhCCka82SwDVQgSi0PiGtn_jlpehf6B7fOMiXJ2LrN2zg2yB0e-Ra0cp0U0mwWciZ1Ww7a0k-sYMYbDayGYvGL4y8a902IcLU_OTGLIcxmvpZQDTCTm6E1nBJFGH3ZysSczotAp9c/s1600/DSC_4305.JPG" height="640" width="427" /></a></div>
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I don't know what good snails are, but I think they're pretty. More often than not, I find shells, tiny ones. However this one was inhabited. I had a snail have babies in an aquarium once, and it's mesmerizing to watch a snail's foot undulate and move around on the glass. Some came out of the tank! This is a land snail, and a bit shyer. They always close up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikB6EnO9WRnFbwpPKytRqK4lxMLr3KoEECbWccO8PwmSY4Qpfs6tIZ9h4BZZ5RBuigv2bSp77pg1kWYuYtvs4u6vxS7s_wyInsCOatc8NF2C1IyPqy5XX3rEYIrPnMvfF0rQlaQGDtoMI/s1600/DSC_4315.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPL1ww2VfeFl0NGpjycXHehcYUL45-kwmSCLW9zfSxzRbhlK-QLpWe3BH9y1MlepNYJQzygdaPoWlNt1psHSdWHKJQ_rKhM33EiZOsnjCMhVnuKE3Cw9UoLC0WSd32jv-OLKv7PeCXws/s1600/DSC_4282.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPL1ww2VfeFl0NGpjycXHehcYUL45-kwmSCLW9zfSxzRbhlK-QLpWe3BH9y1MlepNYJQzygdaPoWlNt1psHSdWHKJQ_rKhM33EiZOsnjCMhVnuKE3Cw9UoLC0WSd32jv-OLKv7PeCXws/s1600/DSC_4282.JPG" height="640" width="427" /></a></div>
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A fern! We used to go in the woods and cut some ferns to fill out bouquets. We used them the same way as florists use baby's breath (those little white flowers with lotsa leaves, e.g. filler, greenery).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrFS9Ie97DV4o1WolVazAvm-RFa9hXxyMYMPAM4ziieTj3byhdNpOklCfxaB59OAsIdbrvIm_bxwBNKTT3Uv3Gc83jL3dwMtFiIajWu7B1mKEem7_WYkAxJOLMmqcmGzC7rtORVP9x74/s1600/DSC_4321.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrFS9Ie97DV4o1WolVazAvm-RFa9hXxyMYMPAM4ziieTj3byhdNpOklCfxaB59OAsIdbrvIm_bxwBNKTT3Uv3Gc83jL3dwMtFiIajWu7B1mKEem7_WYkAxJOLMmqcmGzC7rtORVP9x74/s1600/DSC_4321.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
Dude, yeah, that got potted!!<br />
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Let's check on the plants:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFeTuU_YRuGWQZ32fYxmzMpSn2LYd8o9H2RhIBSB_Dfp4NzUrkRqZwINlzeTm50et5h0TfYQZbXI6ABuC-65Xb5GE36JLiXI4eXs3sgLaMSNFKTdEmhiyFWv6Ws9vZl-6CtQDxY7xJ-c/s1600/DSC_4252.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFeTuU_YRuGWQZ32fYxmzMpSn2LYd8o9H2RhIBSB_Dfp4NzUrkRqZwINlzeTm50et5h0TfYQZbXI6ABuC-65Xb5GE36JLiXI4eXs3sgLaMSNFKTdEmhiyFWv6Ws9vZl-6CtQDxY7xJ-c/s1600/DSC_4252.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weird sun bubble in the pic for peas--- But they're finally blooming!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwty5VoSj2cnAqiqVjSi4hTRNrMjuul3w5Ox_0_RIbD-dIhv3_9qjx4ExQdNOqbw0zw0sZeloCpYhZKmG2PNB8dXrF6dsr3bYmnVxmXMX3tV2IzeZpVrUVHkIS_b6ZFXrLuZ8iI97xK8w/s1600/DSC_4253.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwty5VoSj2cnAqiqVjSi4hTRNrMjuul3w5Ox_0_RIbD-dIhv3_9qjx4ExQdNOqbw0zw0sZeloCpYhZKmG2PNB8dXrF6dsr3bYmnVxmXMX3tV2IzeZpVrUVHkIS_b6ZFXrLuZ8iI97xK8w/s1600/DSC_4253.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lettuce is just fine. I told you it would be, but I know you didn't believe me. ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggD4FbjbsJ7-g3aYnxPffhqbOrOMRpobzVCeVI9qZzJwNEJsnu0UuTWXUwBtzuh_zFfoeyrhtnqP2zjYnbzHX03jG0kMw_O9U3lKxzH6QZliKkM0VTNpVum3xN0TvYMfl7uWAH3UHMMk4/s1600/DSC_4254.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggD4FbjbsJ7-g3aYnxPffhqbOrOMRpobzVCeVI9qZzJwNEJsnu0UuTWXUwBtzuh_zFfoeyrhtnqP2zjYnbzHX03jG0kMw_O9U3lKxzH6QZliKkM0VTNpVum3xN0TvYMfl7uWAH3UHMMk4/s1600/DSC_4254.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The potatoes are growing like cray-cray.</td></tr>
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Speaking of, we let the rest of the bag go to seed again... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIayRUPGg-f3Kl3FFYMXxqIkdLCXMJUkgFmJBlmZ1UBagYZJ1BHjSmhtc6ipMXd-Un2EDL-YbzXiUv92PWMmVg7Y3Ph5NrnXCTOm04ssbwc_F9EvRYp48YqKf3wZ-CYPG-8kz4YVx_haE/s1600/DSC_4250.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIayRUPGg-f3Kl3FFYMXxqIkdLCXMJUkgFmJBlmZ1UBagYZJ1BHjSmhtc6ipMXd-Un2EDL-YbzXiUv92PWMmVg7Y3Ph5NrnXCTOm04ssbwc_F9EvRYp48YqKf3wZ-CYPG-8kz4YVx_haE/s1600/DSC_4250.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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Digging with a shovel and a trowel??? <i>Madame</i> was not made for such work.<br />
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Birdie is a digger, but Oz takes some encouragement....</div>
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He's very obedient. If I can trick him into start digging, all it takes is saying, "Good boy!" and then repeating the same phrase over and over to trigger the behavior. I chose this song:<br />
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Now to my announcement....<br />
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What do you see?<br />
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One day recently, I spied some red in my lawn upon coming home for lunch. I investigated, and it was a strawberry. I remarked such to Alex, and then showed it to him. He said, "--and there's one, and there's one, and there's one." <b>I have a strawberry patch!!!</b><br />
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!!!<br />
!!<br />
!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieLEka3VnmnyK_JuYaVr4nabRtEXFLO0jbVAskj2nbZ5-445u81udgbrQ81cSzIixN377xgoteuvQ6U44eqO92IR5nV5OIIdMgU171dtaC7odH46WJwGd4QcXUWY-ogb-wo8VgBi8w-nI/s1600/DSC_4230.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieLEka3VnmnyK_JuYaVr4nabRtEXFLO0jbVAskj2nbZ5-445u81udgbrQ81cSzIixN377xgoteuvQ6U44eqO92IR5nV5OIIdMgU171dtaC7odH46WJwGd4QcXUWY-ogb-wo8VgBi8w-nI/s1600/DSC_4230.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
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So I weeded the whole thing... about four to five hours or work. I'm very sore today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzpiTwoEYCJPZNIohq988t83t7gGAEt6QhE-vGRAUwGEgwu3mJg4tyaqvG0T7EGpO09yAkQ9F6Yh0A0K8kuIzwODiCTfIr4-K1BInHlb-F6iGOhF4SDXY9jVk9zgKpeUmNTIpwGVEtGg/s1600/DSC_4232.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzpiTwoEYCJPZNIohq988t83t7gGAEt6QhE-vGRAUwGEgwu3mJg4tyaqvG0T7EGpO09yAkQ9F6Yh0A0K8kuIzwODiCTfIr4-K1BInHlb-F6iGOhF4SDXY9jVk9zgKpeUmNTIpwGVEtGg/s1600/DSC_4232.JPG" height="640" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Oz</td></tr>
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I'm training them on 'get out' as I do with rooms in the house. He got it in a day. Bird is still learning a bit. <br />
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I've treated erosion problems with monkey grass, canna, daffodils, and lilies. Canna is the hardest to kill of them all because there's always a bit of root left so it grows again. Plus, in the fall, it looks like you've let corn go to seed. Monkey grass is the easiest to grow. They have long luscious dark green leaves that remind me of hair, about a 3/8" wide and with a rounded tip. They send up straight stems that have small purple blooms on the upper 4-6" which in turn become stems of purple-black berries. These berries are poisonous.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFjNTYPD9Xkx5ymmYVv5w21ImIxUqM9fMiJl7oJ9tbqrTpmVeDA99inRkVd5a9uhPLJUdnsmrzO-cz-sOkcZNWC_0wrgPa0TlYXT8gTrWRwTkFkmQJBNrerC2xRXclEKUD01_hyphenhyphenzxGwY/s1600/DSC_4310.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFjNTYPD9Xkx5ymmYVv5w21ImIxUqM9fMiJl7oJ9tbqrTpmVeDA99inRkVd5a9uhPLJUdnsmrzO-cz-sOkcZNWC_0wrgPa0TlYXT8gTrWRwTkFkmQJBNrerC2xRXclEKUD01_hyphenhyphenzxGwY/s1600/DSC_4310.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
In the middle of this photograph, you see a bit of a tuber? As long as you put that in the ground, you'll have monkey grass. They also propagate via runner. They are drought resistant and very hardy. Monkey grass is good as a border because its thick roots prevent weeds from getting a foothold. Every few years you need to thin it out, as I'm doing now to provide a border to my strawberry patch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKpTlTRnPSEqJguOUbGmHQ5FyMJofLg3pIjeFYICTd06OLIcbpXG1QirNSVjdmTI3Z8Y7aWJhDQIYRV8md-kANHwxkCGfS0YuXj6U8B3xeNCfhrWzwjR2kAgbeKbVgKhxi7iJVCqRjpg/s1600/DSC_4318.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjjjhyphenhyphenOnB2OFN3d2EuAWxsFIU5eYTCi2U6HXudNVJhWRtghdUDN-AURZsKT7IF8lN5797yG5NZ2uKY8CC4tGG7MIwsfFeefGqH4euQvKMcAgEVOh5sHxHTxsYB8Sl3iztKFqZFWM2HQc/s1600/DSC_4319.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjjjhyphenhyphenOnB2OFN3d2EuAWxsFIU5eYTCi2U6HXudNVJhWRtghdUDN-AURZsKT7IF8lN5797yG5NZ2uKY8CC4tGG7MIwsfFeefGqH4euQvKMcAgEVOh5sHxHTxsYB8Sl3iztKFqZFWM2HQc/s1600/DSC_4319.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
After I watered it:<br />
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Our forester friend says that because the blooms are yellow, (My granny's were white.) they are wild strawberries which are small and ten times as sweet as market strawberries. Since I put them through such trauma this year, we'll let them go to seed, but I'll harvest next year!<br />
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A Truly Blessed Land Owner,<br />
<br />
me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-63975812664668526452014-04-27T13:02:00.000-05:002014-04-27T13:08:48.626-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Post-PaschaAlex got home at 5:30A on Easter. I woke up. We had a little hurrah, and he tried to take a nap. I always take the Monday after Easter off to sort of recover.<br />
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Of course! Of course! The butter lamb was decapitated en route. *shrugs* Alex roasted a goat hank, which is delicious. I put some goat jerky in the Easter basket in lieu of ham. I like goats. I like to pet goats. I like to eat goats. Goats.<br />
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Then, Alex had a work conference right after. Consequently, I walked about ten miles in three days getting to work. I walked a bit before Easter, too. Alex's car has been in the shop since October. While we <i>are</i> looking into replacing or fixing it, even if I had a car, I'm not sure I'd've used it. I'm not big into driving. I only work at places that I can reach by biking or walking. My second job for part of 2007 was a sandwich making gig on the weekends 4.1mi away. It was very good for me physically.<br />
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So since HoneyBunches has been gone so much, I vetoed Saturday church <i>and</i> Sunday church.<br />
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Yesterday, as we were getting ready to go grocery shopping (<i>First Time in Three Weeks!</i>) Alex was giggling about the way kids hear things in church which reminded me of my similar experience.<br />
<i></i><br />
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When I was at the 5yo-8yo church, we sang (of course!) from <i>Heavenly Highway</i> aka Elvis' hymnal. They also had older green books... I don't remember what those were, but my Mamaw likes Elvis so anything Elvis sticks with me. Like a <i>Bell's Best</i> the items are in no discernible order so you tend to memorize the number of the song (no page numbers). So Mailman Andy (husband of Ms. Charlotte at the time, he had no other identity until later) called out, "Everyone please turn to <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=652757&actual_sku=652757&slide=4&action=Next">No. 199</a>."<br />
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This is a <a href="http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/e/whenroll.htm">breathless fast foot stomper</a>. <br />
<br />
So me, as a kid, I'm singing this, and I'm wondering. I had to wonder because I couldn't ask. Alex's church has a ton of kids, and they're rather more casual than when I was a kid in church. My parents enforced an absolutely no talking, and BE STILL, sort of policy. ON PAIN OF DEATH. Don't get me started on the shoes and lacy socks and tights. Don't even.... So I'm wondering. I didn't want to sing something I didn't understand. So I started with the 'roll.' The roll was a scroll, I decided, it was the one where everyone who should go to heaven has their name on it, in fact. I thought of it like a teacher's roll call only rolled up to make it even more a roll. What is a 'pyonder'? This baffled me for a long time. I considered that 'pyonder' sounds like 'piano.' I knew there were different pianos (grand pianos, organs, accordions) so I concluded that 'pyonder' was a special piano.<br />
<br />
So in my mind, God would point to the scroll, call it a pyonder, and it'd turn into a pyonder because God called it a pyonder. Then, someone would start playing it, and we'd all file into Heaven. --and I needed to remember to be there! I was promising so I couldn't forget. I had to be there, and it'd be so embarrassing if I forgot to be there. So I asked my dad on the ride home, "How do we know when God will make the pyonder? Because I need to plan on being there." I've always liked being on time.<br />
<br />
Oh, and "How do we know." Don't tell me the answer. Tell me why. Why wasn't my first word, but it was on up there.<br />
<br />
<i>Chillaxing to the Max,</i><br />
<br />
<i>me </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-9676525118702923022014-04-23T15:26:00.001-05:002014-04-23T15:26:52.128-05:00Converting for all of the wrong reasonshttp://onbehalfofall.org/why-you-shouldnt-convert/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-11463478269220532202014-04-20T01:00:00.000-05:002014-04-20T01:00:01.975-05:00The Catechetical Sermon of St. John Chrysostom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This sermon is read in every Eastern Orthodox church on Pascha. It is considered one of the most profound meditations on the Greatest Feast, and the most sublime refutation of pharisaical fasting and self-righteousness, which temptations are great for the faithful during the Great Fast. Traditionally, this sermon comes at the end of the Paschal Matins, and before the Paschal Hours (if served) or the Divine Liturgy:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
If any be devout and God-loving, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumph. If any be a good and wise servant, let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord. If any be weary of fasting, let him now receive his reward. If any have labored from the first hour, let him receive today his rightful due. If any have come at the third hour, let him feast with thankfulness. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him in no wise be in doubt, for in no wise shall he suffer loss. If any be delayed even until the ninth hour, let him draw near, doubting nothing, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him not be fearful on account of his lateness; for the Master, Who is jealous of His honor, receiveth the last even as the first. He giveth rest to him that cometh at the eleventh hour, as well as to him that hath labored from the first hour; and to the last He is merciful, and the first He pleaseth; to the one He giveth, and to the other He bestoweth; and He receiveth the works, and welcometh the intention; and the deed He honoureth, and the offering He praiseth. </div>
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Wherefore, then, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord; both the first and the second, receive ye your reward. Ye rich and ye poor, with one another exult. Ye sober and ye slothful, honor the day. Ye that have kept the fast and ye that have not, be glad today. The table is full-laden, delight ye all. The calf is fatted; let none go forth hungry. Let all enjoy the feast of faith, receive all ye the riches of goodness. Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom hath been revealed. Let no one weep for his transgressions, for forgiveness hath dawned from the tomb. Let no one fear death, for the death of the Saviour hath set us free. He hath quenched it, He hath held hades captive, He Who descended into hades. He embittered it, when it tasted of His flesh. And foretelling this, Isaiah cried: "Hades," he saith, "was embittered when it encountered Thee below." It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered. It received a body and encountered God. It received earth, and met heaven. It received that which it saw, and fell to what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Christ is risen, and thou art cast down. </b><b>Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. </b><b>Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. </b><b>Christ is risen, and life flourisheth. </b><b>Christ is risen, and there is none dead in the tombs.</b></div>
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For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of them that have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-59711744302580128212014-04-19T18:45:00.000-05:002014-04-20T05:54:42.342-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Pre-PaschaChurchies are busy this time of year. There's all sorts of services that seem quite important, and everyone who's anyone wants to be there.<br />
<br />
Me, on the other hand...<br />
<br />
Well...<br />
<br />
Here I am.<br />
<br />
Prior to the house blessing I take a day off to get my house clean. At Easter my house just ends up clean. If you don't go to an Orthodox church and your husband does, you end up mostly alone right before Easter.... Cleaning's as good as anything to do.<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZMDAY8H5yIw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
By contrast, Easter is quite a party!!<br />
<br />
<i>Love and Pork Dumplin's (next week),</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i></i><br />
<i>A Lady-in-Waiting (for her husband)</i><br />
<br />
PS: I just got a chocolate bunny from my mother-in-law with the <a href="http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/russianbreads/r/Russianeaster.htm">lemony Easter pound cake baked in a coffee can</a>! This <i>has</i> to go in the basket.<i> </i>I can't remember the last time I had a chocolate bunny!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-2869010039625746092014-04-17T14:42:00.000-05:002014-04-17T14:42:06.682-05:00Lazarus Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past Saturday the Orthodox Christians of the world celebrated the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. St. Lazarus was by the time of his resurrection four days dead, and the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church teaches that from the time of his raising until his death thirty years later, he only laughed once, and never smiled again, so terrible was the experience of Hades even for that short time.<br />
<br />
I had only heard this story of St. Lazarus's solemnity a few years ago, and it has troubled me ever since. It must have been a very profound weight on him to have to wait thirty more years before he was reunited with Christ in Heaven. I think fearfully about the dreadful calculus; a week more in Hades versus thirty more years on Earth before St. Lazarus could begin his heavenly worship.<br />
<br />
And so I spoke to Official Wife Tina, and she said, "How do you know how time passes in Hades? Who can say whether Lazarus experienced those four days as four days? Wouldn't any time in Hades be terrible? What do you mean, Lazarus was in Hades? You mean he was in Hell? I've never been told this before..."<br />
<br />
And then we talked for a good long while about what exactly happened to all the dead of the Old Testament, and who, if anyone, among the saints of the Old Testament did not experience Hades (Enoch and Elijah, and that's about it, IIRC).<br />
<br />
Even blessed Saint Simeon, who beheld Christ in the flesh as an infant, was condemned to suffer Hades. Even Saints Joachim and Anna, and Saint Joseph, and the Prophet Elisha, and King David the Psalmist, and all of the holy people of God prior to the Crucifixion, the descent and harrowing of Hades, and the Resurrection.<br />
<br />
And so, sitting and typing, I tremble to think that God has graced me, who is first in sin, to be free from Hades, when even these great people who suffered so in the flesh had suffered in ways incomprehensible to me, through the sin of Adam and Eve. And I wonder that Christ forbore for four days to raise St. Lazarus from the dead and how it must have pained him so that the people would see and believe. For here was hope made manifest; not the promise of the Resurrection, but the Resurrection in the flesh. And yet the people did not believe.<br />
<br />
Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-39694754925350696202014-04-10T18:30:00.001-05:002014-04-10T18:30:59.424-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Cheese PyramidEvery year Alex's mom makes a <a href="http://www.breadworld.com/Recipe.aspx?id=78">lemony pound cake in a coffee can</a> that we put in the Easter basket. Every year I make a <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2014/03/official-wife-butter-lamb.html">butter lamb</a> which we put on sliced and toasted slices of said cake and eat for breakfast. Every year Alex makes a cheese pyramid.<br />
<br />
So whereas for the house blessing I say things like--<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tell me as soon as you know when the house blessing will be so I can start getting my act together and take the day before off work.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Don't forget your lists! Write your lists! (of living and dead people)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Shouldn't we buy some heavy cream? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Decide what you want me to cook.</blockquote>
Around Easter I say things like--<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What're we putting in the basket? Let's make an Easter budget! </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
What're we eating for Easter feaster? Let's make a shopping list!<br />
<br />
When do you need to start your cheese pyramid? Have you started your cheese pyramid, yet? It's Tuesday-- time to start your cheese pyramid! :)</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind every nag, nag, nag is a constant lowing ewe... I mean LOVING ewe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The reason I say things like this is... Well, let's just say we haven't always been on time.<br />
<br />
Why is it <a href="http://saintspeterandpaulnh.org/cgi-bin/EasterBasket.cgi">Pascha</a> and not <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Pascha">Pascha</a> Cheese? Is the cheese like, <i>the thang</i>? Is it Thanksgiving:turkey;Easter:cheese?<br />
<br />
We interrupt this important blog with a groundbreaking idea: We can put the CHEESE on the TOAST! *mind blown*<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Love and onigiri,</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>A Lady Who Didn't Have to Reschedule the House Blessing This Year!</i><br />
<br />
PS: Because I care: <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?pasch002.wav=Pascha">Pascha</a><i><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?pasch002.wav=Pascha">.</a></i> If you say <i>pasha</i> people will look at you... and you will melt.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gRH2yr4y7Wg" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-57600198190561203552014-04-03T20:25:00.000-05:002014-04-03T20:25:31.465-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Projects... so Many Projects"Man, all of my crafting stuff is all over the table. I should put stuff up."<br />
<br />
"No, that's okay. Just leave it there." Ladies, I think we have a keeper! <br />
<br />
I found <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/190277152976462151/">this</a> and <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/190277152978517343/">this</a> and combined them.<br />
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I made the ombre (gradient) one (far left) first. I think blue ombre is really in. I am <i>so</i> up on fashion (not). Then the next one I wanted to re-use the raffia from the packaging the candles came in. It's really too bright for me. I wear four colors: black, white, brown, green. Two years ago, I added a maroon shirt and a pink shirt, but I'm not sure I like this. Then, I was uninspired and just wrapped a solid blue (far right), but I later used some pink embroidery thread to add starbursts securing the end with a border of pink at the top. Then I made the green one. The thing-I-hope-looks-like-a-tree is part of a pair of earrings Alex got me just because he loves me. <i>That day</i>, I lost one earring! No joke. So I kept the one I had. The green one is going onto the Easter basket. We only bought four candles, but Alex, without prompting, ran into another room and pulled out some more. I find this mysterious and questionable.... but I will decorate these old ones, too. It goes so fast. You're just like wrap-a wrap-a wrap-a wrap-a wrap-a and Bam! I spent more time thinking about what to do than doing it.<br />
<br />
Or course Kitty bit the tip end of the green one, but we can fix that. Alex can use his warm hands to mush it back, or I'll just burn it down to that point.<br />
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Since we're not buying meat and cheese, we have a lot of money left in the grocery budget and got some fingerling potatoes. Some sprouted, and I saved a few of the ones further along to plant next to the lettuce. They will sit here in a jumble until I feel like planting them.<br />
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Alex got me a *real* freshwater pearl bracelet because he loves me. I broke it. (Sensing a theme?) I wore it a while first, though. I've tried to buy some elastic to remake it, but I can't find any small enough. I eventually found <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/190277152980038833/">this</a>. What you see is me trying to do it without glue and eventually buying glue.<br />
<br />
I AM GONNA HAVE SO MANY BLUEBERRIES:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you have too many?</td></tr>
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<br />
We now have three bushes-5yr, 2yr, and just now as ordered. They're just $6 each at the farmer's market, a long term investment. <br />
<br />
The volunteer lettuce that's icky. Did you know that commercial growers bind romaine lettuce? That's why mine looks different and never seemed to mature. If you pick it as it goes (recommended), the inner stem gets taller and taller. Romaine lettuce as we see it in stores is a Fakey McFakerson.<br />
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<br />
My dad should have mowed the yard every weekend, in our little world, but everything we owned was secondhand and breaking constantly. Since he was a mechanic, he kept making cars and mowers and air conditioners work, but he didn't always have time to fix them. This meant sometimes the grass got high which, in turn, meant I'd go pick a bunch of <a href="https://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Erigeron%20pulchellus">these</a> for the table.<br />
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I think it's impressive that there are so many petals and so tiny petals.<br />
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This is the corner with the dewberries that I asked Alex not to mow. While they're blooming (and once they're red), I'll be on the lookout for dewberry plants. I spotted three more plants along the sidewalk on my way home yesterday.<br />
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A dewberry is like a blackberry, but it grows on a ground-level vine instead of on a bush like a blackberry. They are also smaller. The bigger white blooms (below) are what to look for if you're foraging for dewberries. Little red blackberry-lookin' berries are easy to spot as well. Just mark where they are and keep checking back. The smaller white flowers are false garlic because they look a bit like garlic but aren't. They're just grass or weeds to me, but I know one man's weed is a another's plant.<br />
<br />
Where I'm from there's a common joke:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What's the difference between a weed and a plant?<br />
<br />
You water a plant.</blockquote>
<br />
That's folk wisdom for ya.<br />
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Somebunny may have been right about the peas not being ready in time. It's tall enough to expect blooms, but I see no blooms. From bloom to fruit takes time so I concede this argument... but only this one! In all other things, I am correct... right? ;-P<br />
<br />
Oh, B. Sometimes you just need a stick:<br />
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<br />
This is what we do with all the time that Alex is away on business, social, and/or church stuffs.<br />
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After a while she'll settle down like this and chew.<br />
<br />
Although Alex hates azaleas and has killed several of ours, he seems to be admiring these overgrown ones by the door.<br />
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We also have a pink variety elsewhere from the Old Lady Before Me. I wonder about my yarrow and my monkey grass borders and the volunteer lettuce and my rosemary and my blueberry bushes. Will the lady after me like them and will she eradicate them in order to impose her own will on the yard?<br />
<br />
<i>A Lady Who....</i><br />
<br />
<i>is me</i><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-64595930819150012632014-04-01T20:50:00.000-05:002014-04-01T20:50:20.218-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Just AST for TOONA<i>Author's Note: Drafted on Annunciation day. Annunciation Day? Annunciation? You say Christmas Day but not Easter Day... maybe Easter Day. You can also say Christmas and Easter. The day the Annunciation was celebrated?? The day it was announced? Do they have <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-ortho-diet-featuring-special_4.html">a calenda</a>r which addresses grammar concerns? --Wait. Don't tell me. I don't want to know. ... ... Well <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2014/03/official-wife-something-in-mail.html">does it come with BOWS???!</a></i><br />
<br />
So according to the <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-ortho-diet-featuring-special_4.html">magical mystical calender</a>(aka <b>my nemesis</b> but one you fight with dramatically and always let live), today is one of the days that folks should eat fish. Should eat fish or CAN eat fish? I guess it depends on how much money you had growing up and where you live. Are there one? two days?? in Big Lent for fish?<br />
<br />
So this past Saturday we set out to find fish suitable for Alex.<br />
<br />
...harder than one might think...<br />
<br />
Nothing at Sam's Club was suitable so we set our sights on The Lil' Butcher Shop.<br />
<br />
As we went in, an old guy was rockin' on the porch and smiled at me, 'How nice,' I thought. I smiled and cut my eyes. He was a MANS. He was a PEOPLES. I stick to <i>my</i> man-peoples. Call me conservative, and I will offer you a sandwich. I flicked up again and nodded. He nodded.<br />
<br />
SUCCESS: The system of non-verbal greetings and small talk was completed.<br />
<br />
So when we walked in, Alex went to what was apparently the seafood display before, "Oh, they got rid of the seafood!"<br />
<br />
"How do you know?" and he explained the above.<br />
<br />
"Well, why don't you ask someone?"<br />
<br />
"They got rid of the seafood."<br />
<br />
*sigh* So... <i>I</i> wasn't going to ask someone so I just did my quick-pace to take in the vista.... --no tuna in sight.<br />
<br />
As we exited Alex looked liked a dejected schoolchild. He sounded like one, too, "Awww... I guess I won't have any tuna." I was already trying to think of what EIGHTH place we might go to in order to locate 'acceptable' fish (and said as much) when... <br />
<br />
--the guy in the rocker said, "You didn't find it? What were you lookin' for?"<br />
<br />
"We were looking for tuna steaks," I uncharacteristically said after exchanging glances with Alex. (I'd just like to take a moment to pat myself on the back for speaking to someone, indeed someone who was strange and male as well.)<br />
<br />
"There aren't any?"<br />
<br />
"Well, I didn't see any..." I began to feel guilty. I was on a roll! <b>TEN WORDS.</b><br />
<br />
"Did you ask someone?"<br />
<br />
"No...." Oh... super guilty. I felt like I was being got onto. <i>Why do I ever speak??</i> Flash look of you-are-guilt to Alex.<br />
<br />
*slash-I-told-you-so*<br />
<br />
"Erghhh!" He grunted getting up with great effort and more guilt from taking his break away and being stupid. "We got tuna. It's in the back. Lemme go find it," he said, and there was more and more and more AWKWARDNESS and back and forth, BUT.<br />
<br />
BUT.<br />
<br />
I'll have you know.<br />
<br />
THIS.<br />
<br />
At the end of all this strange social negotiation, he gave <u>Alex</u> a sweet sweet beggin' talkin' to, "Just ast' me! Just ast' anyone. We will get you what you need. We had a busy day," (Mardi gras? Football game? Something normal people do), "so we's usually restock the freezer, but we hazn't had a chance."<br />
<br />
--a moment of silence-- Thank God he didn't look at me. I swear he knew. Alex was the one who needed the talkin' to anyway.<br />
<br />
"Jus' ast me!," he said repeatedly to Alex, not me. I might've hidden behind Alex.... mb. This went on with some earnestness for quite a time.... like an eternity of three minutes in time. Subjectivity, man.<br />
<br />
I get it. In his shoes, <i>I'd</i> want to take our money. He hit it spot on to increase future revenue. <br />
<br />
Somewhere in this mess of an awkwardness, he'd brought out some frozen tuna steaks and restocked the freezer. Alex picked one; "No get another," because I thought there were <i>two</i> tuna days and no way did I want to go through this again. "Maybe I'll want one... or... maybe you'll have a tuna day again." He confirmed. I reiterated: Maybe I would want one, but a can of tuna with something pickled and some mustard and diced apples is actually more appetizing and cheaper.<br />
<br />
Whew! *sigh* So jus' AST somebody, Alex! Geez, Louise. ... urmmh GEEZ ALEX. AST somebody before some guy in a rocker's break gets interrupted. Hello. He-llo! Geez.<br />
<br />
I think we learned something this afternoon. Ahem? Yes.<br />
<br />
I ended up just thawing one of the two <i>very expensive</i> (I-shall-not-mention-numbers!.... but it was like $20 for two cans' worth, if that.) tuna steaks. We thawed the bigger one. It happened to be <i>two</i> steaks. One was like an ounce.<br />
<br />
This was then for me with some broccoli and jasmine rice. Oh... buddy. Jasmine rice.<br />
<br />
Om. nom.<br />
<br />
--and broccoli I've liked from an early age. There's a story there.<br />
<br />
<br />
It's something to do with air conditioning and an early and high level of independence.<br />
<br />
I'll let you imagine what some hot hungry unsupervised kid might do... some kid who likes to eat broccoli. ...I never even got caught. :) Or so I thought. ;)<br />
<br />
<i>Forever to be Awkward, It's my thing...</i><br />
<br />
<i>me</i><br />
<br />
PS: Say <a href="http://homesteadingthebackforty.blogspot.com/2007/04/edible-dianthus.html">whuh?</a><i> </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-35607233550380339022014-03-28T19:37:00.000-05:002014-03-28T19:37:01.848-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Something in the MailI knew I was getting something in the mail. Sometimes ya just know; ya know? Like when you ask your husband to place an order, he does so, and then items are mailed to you...<br />
<br />
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<br />
--but soft? What purple hue through yonder bubble wrap peeks? (I want you to know that I wiped down my sink right after this picture.)<br />
<br />
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It's purple raffia and regular raffia! It's BOWS. I didn't know I was getting a PRESENT.<br />
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It's TWO. TIMES. the number of BOWS! It is Easter basket worthy already! --but what is a present you don't open? Wouldn't they be offended if I didn't open it???<br />
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Plus, it's lit in the diagram, and this looks mighty flammable. <br />
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They are yellower than I thought. Yes, I knew they were beeswax candles. Oh, I thought I was going to theme my basket green, but apparently I changed my mind. There's a lotta blue in that picture.<br />
<br />
Oh, do you know WHY they are made of beeswax?<br />
<br />
(You should always ask WHY.)<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Because honey is tasty?</blockquote>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ENZiW9nDCuk" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
Maybe.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Because the monks need a <a href="http://candles.jordanville.org/">way to make money</a>?</blockquote>
<br />
Well, probably... but they do already have the revenue stream from the <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-ortho-diet-featuring-special_4.html">calendar</a>!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Then, WHY?</blockquote>
<br />
So good of you to AST. (You'll get it soon enough.) It will be our inside joke. Everyone has TOONA, but we'll have AST.<br />
<br />
Well, the answer I was given was that it burns without smoke. You're in a building with a bunch of expensive ?paintings? ?pictures?... okay, I'll say it: icons, and other expensive stuff (clothes, stained glass windows, lungs) so you don't want to gum everything up with smoke.<br />
<br />
Did you know, though, that beeswax candles actually <i>purify</i> the air? I mean, it's common-- house plants purify the air. Trees purify the air, but those are plants so their functions are intuitive. Who knew beeswax candles purified air?<br />
<br />
--and they smell nice. There is also incense involved in the Orthodox church. (Boy, do I sound heebie jeebie.)<br />
<br />
It reminds me of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+4&version=NRSV">Ezekiel 4:9.</a>.. <a href="http://www.foodforlife.com/about_us/ezekiel-49">the bread</a> that is. It never hurts to be a bit scared of things you don't understand. You just need to AST WHY. You may not get an answer or one you get, but AST WHY.<br />
<br />
Oh, and my favorite professor (who taught Bible as Literature, introducing me to this amazing concept that the <i>Bible</i> was *gasp* a book!? a book with history!? Yeah, I was that dumb...) told me that science had proven that the day the <i>Bible</i> recommended as the time to perform circumcision was <a href="http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1118">medically optimal</a>. Yep, don't wait on science. It's way behind the curve.<br />
<br />
<i>A Lady Who's About to Play with a Bunch of String,</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Alex's Little Cromwell</i><br />
<br />
<br />
PS: <i> </i><a href="https://www.stjohnsbookstore.com/node/1476">NEXT YEAR! :D</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-78959811356047936942014-03-22T18:44:00.000-05:002014-03-22T19:22:39.033-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: The Story of Maw PingI cleaned the kitchen. I might've even engaged in <i>maw-ping</i>. This is an ancient Chinese practice. It involves strange tools and concoctions:<br />
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Before you even get to that part, though, you have to take another strange instrument and rub it over the surface:<br />
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When a kitty appears, from thin air, you are to begin the practice of <i>maw-ping</i>.<br />
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"How did such a strange habit come about?," the intelligent person will ask.<br />
<br />
That is why I will tell you the story of Maw Ping.<br />
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During the Ming Dynasty, there lived a woman named Ping. She cursed her mother for giving her a boy's name and ran away in shame at the age of twelve.<br />
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For four years she lived in the woods. She ate blackberries and wore scratchy clothes woven from grass. Deer and dogs would bring her things, useful things like an empty milk jug or a sock. The doves led her to sweet cricks and patches of dandelions which were tasty. Eventually, though, she knew something was missing.<br />
<br />
She needed to settle down and get married.<br />
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Straightway without stopping to pee or pack she went to the nearest human settlement whereupon she raced up and down and up and down and up the streets again... looking.<br />
<br />
He wasn't there.<br />
<br />
<br />
Straightway without stopping to pee or pack she went to
the <i>next</i> nearest human settlement whereupon she raced up and down and up and
down and up the streets again... looking.<br />
<br />
He wasn't there. She was disappointed so she took a nap. Naps usually remedy grouchiness (or so we're told). During her nap, she had a dream. In this dream a cat told her, "Just give it one more try! You're doing so well! What a shame it would be to give up...."<br />
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She woke up, feeling refreshed, drank some water, and entered the next human settlement whereupon she raced up and down and up and
down and up the streets again... looking.<br />
<br />
He was there!<br />
<br />
She gave him a ring and said, "Now, I'm going to go 'hide.' You come find me and give me this ring. Then, we'll build a house and live happily ever after."<br />
<br />
So she hid. He found her. He gave her the ring. They built a house, and they lived happily ever after.<br />
<br />
...but this is the beginning of a story... <br />
<br />
As time passed, which time does from time to time (or so we are told), it happened that a dog or a cat--usually a cat-- would appear on the doorstep of the house they built. They would have the most amazing stories of need and sorrow. Here are a few of the stories which have survived the centuries: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Meep! Meep-meep! Mrrrrow!</blockquote>
and<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Prrrdump! Prrruh? Purrrdow!</blockquote>
and<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
*shows belly*</blockquote>
Yes, stories of <i>those</i> sort, the sort that leaves no eye dry. So she would take them in and pay the witch doctor; then, they would remain forever in the house that Ping and her husband built living off toona and cuddles.<br />
<br />
There came a time when it seemed there were SO many cats and dogs. Ping began to despair about the condition of her floors. They were so... dirty.<br />
<br />
--but first Ping had to fill out a tax return. For her tax return, she counted her dogs, which numbered forty, and she tried to count her cats but lost count around 148 so she wrote, "About one-eighth the entire cat population, whatever that is."<br />
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Days came and went, and toona and cuddles were had.<br />
<br />
One day something STRANGE happened!!!!<br />
<br />
A lady knocked on her door!!!<br />
<br />
She crept through the dark foyer and peeked through the window. It was a lady dressed like a cop with FBI written on her sleeve. Ping, who was quite old by now, opened the door, but knew she was still protected by the Tricked Out Screen Door of Secrets, "Why are you on my property?!"<br />
<br />
"Ms. Ping, I am Díor Bioré with the IRS," she said. She whispered confidentially, "--that's the guvments," before announcing in a very business-like tone, "Your cats are being audited."<br />
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Feeling quite relieved that it was something so mundane (How many times had she already been through this? She didn't even remember at the ripe age of three hundred and three.) she let the lady in.<br />
<br />
"Folks around here call me Ol' Maw Ping, if you please. Make yourself at home. You're welcome to all the cats you can count or carry or cajole or carouse!" Ping laughed, thinking how clever she was. "Would you like some tea?"<br />
<br />
"No, thankyou, ma'am, and Ms. Ping will do just fine. I'm just doing my job, and I'll be right at it. ... Now, if the cats will please form a single line. No cutting and no elbow jabbing. This will be very orderly, and I hope not to take too much of your time."<br />
<br />
Ol' Maw Ping turned and rolled her eyes. She made herself a nice hot pot of tea then settled in to watch the entertainment:<br />
<br />
"Here kitty-kitty! Here! Here kitty?"<br />
<br />
<i>RAWRRRRR!</i><br />
<br />
"--and your name is?"<br />
"Which one do you want? I've got 152."<br />
Díor sighed in despair, but then thought she had the problem licked, "Which one are you most often called?"<br />
"I dunno. You'd have to audit the past fifteen years of conversation."<br />
<br />
Maw Ping chuckled. This went on for twenty-two days before the lady decided that a career in the IRS wasn't for her. Díor Bioré went on to open a very successful beauty line.<br />
<br />
Then Ol' Maw Ping remembered her problem. Her floors!<br />
<br />
She thought and she thought and she thought.<br />
<br />
Then, she thought some more.<br />
<br />
Then, she filled out a census form. Deciding once and for all to stop the insanity, she put a very sophisticated looking symbol next to the number of cats question:<br />
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She chuckled, knowing that figuring out that symbol should keep the IRS at bay at least for the rest of her life.<br />
<br />
(That is why the last census taken was in 194BC.)<br />
<br />
Then, she had an idea! She took out the brush she used to pull off her dogs' winter coats reasoning, "If it works on dogs, it'll work on floors."<br />
<br />
So she brushed her floors, and behold it worked quite well.<br />
<br />
Still, her floors were dirty.<br />
<br />
So she took out the soap and water that she used to bathe her dogs reasoning, "If it works on dogs, it'll work on floors."<br />
<br />
It was like magic!<br />
<br />
She began to do this every Saturday. People walked for hundreds of miles to watch her at her task. Soon, everyone was doing it! It really took on! Not like leg warmers either, it took on like skirts.<br />
<br />
One ancient scholar then said, "What is this called so that I can write of it preserving this practice for the betterment of future generations?"<br />
<br />
The mayor, who was a six month old baby boy, immediately replied, "We'll call it <i>maw-ping</i> to honor her who showed us how."<br />
<br />
Forevermore, it was called thus. In the modern era, it is spelled mopping, but we know how language twists and turns like a tongue. So remember Ol' Maw Ping....<br />
<br />
<i>Love and a (refreshed, I'll have you know) Nut Bar,</i><br />
<br />
<i>MY MIND </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-62269431027523048872014-03-21T20:03:00.002-05:002014-03-21T20:03:51.945-05:00OW Cooks: A Bread Series<br />
Continuing on OW Cooks and freed of my anti-carb notions, I believe I shall do a mini-series on bread. It seems that across both time and cultures, bread is the staple of every diet. It may be loaf bread, biscuits, naan, tortilla, grits, pie crust, pizza crust, hominy, or rice. It may be based on any number of grains from garbanzo beans (Is that a grain? Romans.) to the ubiquitous wheat to corn to black bean brownies. ;) There's a story there.<br />
<br />
It may be leavened-- yeast, baking powder, baking soda, fermentation-- or unleavened.<br />
<br />
But bread is everywhere. I would even lump mashed potatoes into this. Perhaps mashed potatoes are the bread of my people. I ate them more often than biscuits growing up, but most meals had both. By the end of this, you'll definitely be able to find your way passed/past (VOTE BELOW) Sunbeam (inside joke).<br />
<br />
Making the bread of your culture, regardless of the specifics, has for centuries been learned by osmosis. It is a sick old hag of a practice, and I'm sad to see it so. Professional bakers by tradition are men, but I want to look into the bread of your home, which is made usually by a mother figure. Depending on the mother, you may learn this skill and perform this chore promptly at the age of four. You may learn it at thirty-eight, while struggling with your own brood and seeking to find the calm of your childhood. What was different? Was it bread? If your mother was my mother, you learned it because she had to answer the phone. You learned it because you were hungry, and she was reading a romance novel. You learned it because it's something to keep you occupied while she's making the rest of the dinner. You learned it racing back and forth from Granny's house, where your mother was, to your own kitchen (which was your own, even when you're seven) pen and paper in hand, between each step, because one step is all you can handle at a time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j5XMItcma1qauQw4RqkyhhS98k8Qi4p1FyNRb3gBSrB6EsDNSAoe6ga1vyV6opauNb7j-KPlqCIdUM9OvsbeB83GAwoz7dlevTRJdJEaVnnGlQlDvf2Eb1MsCvlHBmmFAMEDQbBqn9E/s1600/DSC_4005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6j5XMItcma1qauQw4RqkyhhS98k8Qi4p1FyNRb3gBSrB6EsDNSAoe6ga1vyV6opauNb7j-KPlqCIdUM9OvsbeB83GAwoz7dlevTRJdJEaVnnGlQlDvf2Eb1MsCvlHBmmFAMEDQbBqn9E/s1600/DSC_4005.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mamaw and I both have our stories of frustration with this recipe. Pie crust ended in tears for our first attempt(s), decades apart.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She made biscuits and chocolate gravy every Sunday before church-- for anyone who wants to come. Now, she only makes it if someone besides her and Papaw will be there. That is not her biscuit recipe but my attempt at taking measurements from what I learned from my mother. Mamaw cooks her biscuits on the stovetop, mixing it in the same bowl, flipping it onto the same white plastic plate with a blue flower design... cooking in the same pan since I was in preschool. She was at a point in life where she could buy finer things so she bought a good cookware set for her and my mom--before that a heavy black iron skillet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friendship bread recipe from Miss JoAnn. Strange how the people who help you as a kid are always Miss/Mister. It's an earned respect, even if it didn't start that way. Although, with some joy I might add, I call many people now who were 'adults' when I was a kid by their first name. Some squirm, but nobody says anything. They don't call me Mrs./Ms. either!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jWDwqpS44s1HFUSAzCYirNc7AGn6zwFX9w1u60nBtPcGlIy-ztW5n2DNyDNWATo-FSR_234eNflM37cjSyJRSD_Cym5d-ggthCQniQJnHP50qhSv_bUsn1KUPG6y-f04VanId759DxI/s1600/DSC_4011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jWDwqpS44s1HFUSAzCYirNc7AGn6zwFX9w1u60nBtPcGlIy-ztW5n2DNyDNWATo-FSR_234eNflM37cjSyJRSD_Cym5d-ggthCQniQJnHP50qhSv_bUsn1KUPG6y-f04VanId759DxI/s1600/DSC_4011.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: LHJ vegetable terrine. I followed a Ladies Home Journal diet in middle school. Right: Springdale cookies. I also got the Martha Stewart magazine as a Christmas present from Mamaw.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouK2-9Bz6nLquWUQW5sRWD0GwCVGo5gTaXpjg3J2VzLPnfBvH14H5J3aaHfjmmL0HUmP6oQQ1tb6ulxirOGTBdruQTbAD8M5sKrpXMSRAXohAI15Q0J1hmrE4eLDMN4CU5DGb-AOqi4o/s1600/DSC_4007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouK2-9Bz6nLquWUQW5sRWD0GwCVGo5gTaXpjg3J2VzLPnfBvH14H5J3aaHfjmmL0HUmP6oQQ1tb6ulxirOGTBdruQTbAD8M5sKrpXMSRAXohAI15Q0J1hmrE4eLDMN4CU5DGb-AOqi4o/s1600/DSC_4007.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cornbread recipe I wrote as a kid. Self-rising and plain flour was so confusing. Do they even make pre-mixed/leavened flour anymore? It also seems like they don't make saccharin tablets. I had a tea recipe taped into the lid of the tea canister!-- I bet it's still there.<u><br /></u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjWKuDRa85acgUmIoizKc-5eU7nRodXlkAjZT_dLokzpNWDyp9616ZBqKuSIrLDN3ybEIR-66W3jd0nsc0sGN8vNRIsinUXV2gd4MVyXVpDMBI8gEnzA_R4QgEHGwTVQDZNgolOC8zGs/s1600/DSC_4009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjWKuDRa85acgUmIoizKc-5eU7nRodXlkAjZT_dLokzpNWDyp9616ZBqKuSIrLDN3ybEIR-66W3jd0nsc0sGN8vNRIsinUXV2gd4MVyXVpDMBI8gEnzA_R4QgEHGwTVQDZNgolOC8zGs/s1600/DSC_4009.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dump cobbler which was dessert every night for many years at the beginning of their marriage... with a side of burned biscuits. Sausage balls are a Christmas tradition, more recent ~'94 onward?</td></tr>
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I didn't find the pizza sauce recipe which was written on purple paper and while frequently storming into Granny's, which included sugar (so did our spaghetti... and the Hawaiian chicken was mostly candied chicken) or the Rice Krispies for Two which I wrote, after much painful math and my first pre-taught experience with the concept of mathematical proportion, when I decided to make just one for me and my brother each. That is the <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/official-wife-matushka-deconstructed.html" target="_blank">cookie recipe</a> I made so much. I think the <i>first one</i> was from a yellow Nestle bag and involved peanut butter. This is definitely the one I memorized, though.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure that there <i>should be</i> recipes for bread. Perhaps some kinds, but not the most basic... certainly not your every day bread. It all depends on the temperature and humidity which varies from place to place and season to season-- even time of day and location within your household. Bread is a thing you teach yourself, like empathy.<br />
<br />
I propose the following posts:<br />
<ul>
<li>Mashed Potatoes, The Bread of My People </li>
<li>Biscuits, The Bread of My People</li>
<li>Whole Wheat Loaf Bread, The Bread of Ignatiev South (by Alex)</li>
<li>Steel Cut Oats, The Bread of Ignatiev South (by Alex) </li>
<li>Cornbread and Mush, The Bread of Those Before Me </li>
<li>Rice, The Correct Way(s)</li>
<li>"Parkerhouse" Rolls</li>
<li>Tortillas</li>
<li>Pasta</li>
<li>Pizza (if only to guarantee Alex will use the Daiya shreds that I got with my birthday money two-three years ago)</li>
<li>Pie</li>
</ul>
<br />
So if you my reader, haven't learned as a child how to make the bread
of your people/family, is there no hope? --since there is no recipe.
Not at all. Sometimes you eat burned biscuits. Sometimes the dogs eat
burned biscuits. Sometimes, involving baking powder, your digestive
system gets a reboot.<br />
<br />
All in the pursuit of tall fluffy biscuits! lol<br />
<br />
You'll have a harder road than if you grew up baking bread, but it's worth it. Then, you can teach your children.<br />
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<i>From a Woman Quite Enjoying This Whole Writing and Taking Pictures Thing,</i><br />
<br />
<i>me </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-4867648108127563992014-03-20T20:37:00.000-05:002014-03-20T20:37:48.143-05:00OW Cooks: How to Butcher a Bell Pepper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The farmer's market has started back up for the year. GUESS what I'm having for lunch tomorrow???<br />
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No really. Guess.<br />
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First of all, that tomato is 1lb 9.8oz. I bet you didn't notice the little one... I grew that. It's the only tomato my black krim has made so far. I bought this black krim plant from the farmer's market at the beginning of <i>last year's</i> season.<br />
<br />
You know what I must do with this giant tomato. You know.<br />
<br />
I'm going to toast TWO--<br />
<br />
TWO.<br />
<br />
Slices of .... BREAD.<br />
<br />
--slathered in <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Cardio-Choice-Buttery-Spread-15-Oz/13925169">kitty crack</a>.--<br />
<br />
--and put on ONE.<br />
<br />
ONE.<br />
<br />
Slice of BREAD.<br />
<br />
--a center cut from this tomato. Then I will sprinkle on Bacos and heap it with the green ends of romaine.<br />
<br />
And I will have a sandwich!!<br />
<br />
I might make him a sandwich, too. He doesn't really seem as excited as me.<br />
<br />
"Wife! Make me a sandwich!" Of course. I love making him lunches! :) I was a Sandwich Artist at two different restaurants for several years.<br />
<br />
<br />
--but for the college kid in a few years that stumbles on this, you are probably interested in cutting up veg... I hope. I do so hope. So on to it. My favorite farmer's market stall was selling bell peppers 3/$1--I consider the buying price to be 2/$1-- so we bought six. I cut up three for the next three days. Once washed or prepared in any way, veg rapidly goes bad.<br />
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Slice both ends off of a bell pepper and set them aside. Then make one slice perpendicular along the edge.<br />
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Unroll it. The knife is just weighing it down for the picture. Use your hands to pull out the seeds and webbing.<br />
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Slice this roll into strips. This is for Alex's salads. If frozen, it can be used in Fajita Veg (upcoming entry) which is very low cal and high volume.<br />
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Returning to the top end slice--<br />
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Turn it a quarter way and slice again. Repeat.<br />
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Slice the bottom, and then dice your slices from the top/bottom.<br />
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This is all that's left. I'd call all but the little top bit in the lower right (the stem) edible, but my family discards everything in the picture above. You might lightly toast the seeds to eat or plant them with a portion of the flesh. Seeds can also be spread on paper/newspaper and dried then planted later. The flesh would likely go unnoticed in any cooked application... but I'll let you decide when to hide black beans in brownies or put some pureed liver in dressing...<br />
<br />
... lol ...<br />
<br />
MWHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! <br />
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These three baggies of slices from the sides go in the fridge for quickly assembled salads--<br />
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--and I added the diced peppers to the freezer. Bell peppers can be pretty expensive so we pick them up on Quick Sell/Manager's Special. I cut out any bruised, moldy, or sickly lookin' part. Then, I cut them up and freeze them. Diced peppers usually go on pizza and slices in stir fry. Frozen peppers are wet, limp, and no longer too great on a salad.<br />
<br />
Love and I <i>still don't know</i> what I'm making this week (peanut
butter broccoli stir fry or steamed edamame or romaine/red
onion/olive/Goddess-dressing salad or nut bar[which was scheduled for
last week. I made it and have been munching.... munching... munching.
It's on the counter in the kitchen as you enter the den, so easy to grab
a few!]),<br />
<br />
<i>A Fairy Princess Photographer... with sparkles!</i> <br /><br />
PS: Oh, we went to the zoo Sunday! $5/ea! I got some great shots:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_-IcSqOdDtA_EpzEXvd4P7wsVQpjnmGYqYXQhxksVBMytj1fTjaoOk_FXPrc3eXA5aHi8VHZa8Top8EsL3QlQJ5xmzwkcUtKTgbF1XQIKUc4bg-_WuV8O297lvBj6bdiZrhSmygnT84/s1600/DSC_3790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_-IcSqOdDtA_EpzEXvd4P7wsVQpjnmGYqYXQhxksVBMytj1fTjaoOk_FXPrc3eXA5aHi8VHZa8Top8EsL3QlQJ5xmzwkcUtKTgbF1XQIKUc4bg-_WuV8O297lvBj6bdiZrhSmygnT84/s1600/DSC_3790.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This lemur eyes you suspiciously...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S3gJ8tofZsx4OvwoAITTwhpQNzsMyjm8byyx26xuaZ1ryiirT0KLJ0qjghzpJd_qAZOF6z_Zv9vKs3g_FzTuZLwd6ZXSdd8sSxqAL7213nOBklw_0F0ZJPqEKmCRNfVHfQv2utDlmDM/s1600/DSC_3791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S3gJ8tofZsx4OvwoAITTwhpQNzsMyjm8byyx26xuaZ1ryiirT0KLJ0qjghzpJd_qAZOF6z_Zv9vKs3g_FzTuZLwd6ZXSdd8sSxqAL7213nOBklw_0F0ZJPqEKmCRNfVHfQv2utDlmDM/s1600/DSC_3791.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Boo!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96Noe-svqeBkKDdx8rZOBDTn2xGEHwNlglmg7bo8iodvTr6bxnQbWaaPZ3qy3hIFVBnZGjp_-bIDtaT-7cXfW1VEtIxBHwr3uCvV-FiS-QnjCQwVxv4Cr10wC3CYfHEbKlYlB5g-LzUs/s1600/DSC_3821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96Noe-svqeBkKDdx8rZOBDTn2xGEHwNlglmg7bo8iodvTr6bxnQbWaaPZ3qy3hIFVBnZGjp_-bIDtaT-7cXfW1VEtIxBHwr3uCvV-FiS-QnjCQwVxv4Cr10wC3CYfHEbKlYlB5g-LzUs/s1600/DSC_3821.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">squabbling over who's tallest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFpQDjHGb5piL3tmE5fErwbB3uS3_upWCSuR5wxhr_wZ8zRcmlPKd8CStOl1YZyXoBAj5poKpWh0iVKvDGZP1C5vtr6iPR2ipTwhGwyLIhNvVV0Yv68PXIw4U1hHgEQ4RkrBPFkqbz6M/s1600/DSC_3838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFpQDjHGb5piL3tmE5fErwbB3uS3_upWCSuR5wxhr_wZ8zRcmlPKd8CStOl1YZyXoBAj5poKpWh0iVKvDGZP1C5vtr6iPR2ipTwhGwyLIhNvVV0Yv68PXIw4U1hHgEQ4RkrBPFkqbz6M/s1600/DSC_3838.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I want to do another one of these on the 'fast' setting.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkCc-Z2CyRP0DFSSfT1LD8CjBYGBYOXQWKIym-hnLq5mxwd4ta_4GtKAdafuwK52MuZk4fSQPjnRJv3uGZvmTMaNohvhdFZv8u3ClVBfNDFZMhWszkr1cnlaZJ5ViV4UrsTkcuPC_11M/s1600/DSC_3917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkCc-Z2CyRP0DFSSfT1LD8CjBYGBYOXQWKIym-hnLq5mxwd4ta_4GtKAdafuwK52MuZk4fSQPjnRJv3uGZvmTMaNohvhdFZv8u3ClVBfNDFZMhWszkr1cnlaZJ5ViV4UrsTkcuPC_11M/s1600/DSC_3917.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex had to take this as both myself and the tortoise are quite short. This lil' 3' fence set 3' away was quite an obstacle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv280xc9DvZ0b3hfIajwROHdw7W4H-QkEiGuHWkgGGNLVgfFCH6JtjxuYcwEBcnzBpesxYmDpP5NGc1rTmmF8J6poVDOwZSL_xnI4zE3KnZRZH2zLf8vmbrs14_QfbjWn85KTHmfW8MkI/s1600/DSC_3918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv280xc9DvZ0b3hfIajwROHdw7W4H-QkEiGuHWkgGGNLVgfFCH6JtjxuYcwEBcnzBpesxYmDpP5NGc1rTmmF8J6poVDOwZSL_xnI4zE3KnZRZH2zLf8vmbrs14_QfbjWn85KTHmfW8MkI/s1600/DSC_3918.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He 'nommed' himself forward. It was cy00t!</td></tr>
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If you piece the highest points of his shell together in your mind, you can see how far he's come. He was an ickle wickle! --and I've no doubt some has rubbed off.<br />
<br />
I leave you with my favorite:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tf7EwJkC8QvAbgJFSKWxCI38cFBKxjncowiGJtC5Lb-mfMWPyen68ncfeOeWgq4wOQGk61D97PCxF0Y-nOCb_BhEuCbGm2lHK0eLHYGvIHQ4_MMDQnVezSkYJmrqROuwVE7458APy6w/s1600/DSC_3886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4tf7EwJkC8QvAbgJFSKWxCI38cFBKxjncowiGJtC5Lb-mfMWPyen68ncfeOeWgq4wOQGk61D97PCxF0Y-nOCb_BhEuCbGm2lHK0eLHYGvIHQ4_MMDQnVezSkYJmrqROuwVE7458APy6w/s1600/DSC_3886.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They've put in a petting zoo with goats! I LOVE GOATS!!</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-39525367482550798032014-03-19T20:39:00.000-05:002014-03-19T20:46:11.830-05:00OW Cooks: How to Butcher a Bunch of CeleryI am going to do a series of very basic cooking entries. This one, hummus, an extensive soup one, a series on bread... How little so many people know about cooking has just<i> shocked</i> me. Anyone who is poor or who is looking to be healthier and/or bank some money: YOU NEED TO COOK.<br />
<br />
So, I apologize for lingering long on basics, but I have the feeling a small portion of the population needs it. They are worth rescuing.<br />
<br />
First, let me tell you a story. We had a couple over once, and I made some celery sticks while they were here. The woman was very critical of how I was doing this, but my stubborn kicked in so I did it my way. The next time we were at her house, she made a point of bringing out some celery. I think it was purchased for that reason, actually. Then she cut through in just two slices, producing a lovely stack of 3" sticks and wasting better than half the plant, "That is how you cut celery..."<br />
<br />
Getting no reaction (I do NOT like confrontation.), "What do you think of that?" <br />
<br />
"It's not my place to tell a lady, in her house, how to cut up her celery. Her celery that she worked to get the money to buy, furthermore. I'm not going to do that. You do what you want with your celery."<br />
<br />
The guys got a kick out of that, but was she mad! She slammed it down and left the room.<br />
<br />
Sometimes I do alright. Sometimes. I never know until after the fact. If I can't think of something good to say (by good--- non-aggressive and honest, not necessarily clever), it's best to just take it. Take whatever they can dish. Surviving is itself a victory.<br />
<br />
<br />
My days of socializing, however, are firmly over.<br />
<br />
Well, call me weird. I am Yoda, now. Yoda was weird. He was green and fuzzy with pointy ears.<br />
<br />
<i>deceptively simple is cutting up celery</i><br />
<br />
I will show you the ways of the vegetable force!<br />
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Above is a bunch of celery that has been pulled apart, and I've rinsed the dirt away. I didn't bother pulling the ribs of the yellow core (fore) apart.<br />
<br />
Now here are some sample pieces from short to tall. The first thing I do is pull the leaves off. These can be added to salads for a peppery bite or to soups for a milder celery taste. I've taken the leaves off all ribs in the photo.<br />
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Next, I cut the bottom off the core, the shortest piece. It's the biggest part of what I won't use, but you can <i>try</i> to sprout it. <i>Try.</i> Best to plant the whole core if you want a plant.<br />
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Then, the longest piece, I severed at the joint at the top.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a closer look at the joint</td></tr>
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I prefer to do this in stages by product. Here I have removed all leaves:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAK8YKEWsl32ns5cr1bzKw1z5LvnbzpqR_UGIpyuawvp-QN01eqIp8b-EtTJCIFK8C2z9A6p4kyAD4YY9gWtQrVUIfHPw56Fcuyb0XPH_cAZqKFowmgxjhbbsQG4-GQnEVMoGTW1gILk/s1600/DSC_3937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAK8YKEWsl32ns5cr1bzKw1z5LvnbzpqR_UGIpyuawvp-QN01eqIp8b-EtTJCIFK8C2z9A6p4kyAD4YY9gWtQrVUIfHPw56Fcuyb0XPH_cAZqKFowmgxjhbbsQG4-GQnEVMoGTW1gILk/s1600/DSC_3937.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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Like any prepared/cleaned green for salads, this is best preserved by
sprinkling in a single layer on a clean cloth (bath towel if you have a
horde to feed, wash cloth if you, kitchen towel, anything) and rolled up
and put in the crisping drawer.<br />
<br />
Then, I cut the tops off at the joint. Some of these are tall enough above that to pass for celery sticks. Cut the two-pronged bottom off and set aside with the other ribs of celery. The rest will be diced for soups, sauteés, and stir fries. See the three short bits facing me? I cut the blackened end off creating a new end. This is entirely unnecessary. It is only dessicated (or dried out). However, as with the top bits that will pass for celery sticks, preferences will vary from family to family. You won't be able to tell at all if you put this in soup or use it to make stock so I encourage using it. All that makes that color is some water missing.<br />
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Slice them into matchsticks, then dice them up. They go in the freezer to flavor future dishes!<br />
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Now we get to the perfectly shaped green three inch crudité so craved of from this plant! Line them up and cut. Be thoughtful about the shorter bits, slicing a sliver from the root end and sorting into 'guest' celery sticks (like I have guests?!?!?? Except Non-Ortho Friend, who I always fill the table for) and 'us' celery sticks.<br />
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The above is all that was wasted. In fact, it <i>could</i> still be easily used to flavor broth. You could also compost it.<br />
<br />
Love and ... I don't know what I'm sending this week,<br />
<br />
<i>A Lady Who KNOWS You Only Have to Be Poor Once</i><br />
<i>It Sticks Like a Spaghetti Noodle!</i><br />
<br />
PS: I must say this is not a rule. This is helpful advice... maybe. If it helps you, yay! If you don't want to do this, don't, but don't disparage those who do, perty please.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-85577963760845582582014-03-15T08:25:00.000-05:002014-03-16T15:55:14.904-05:00OFFICIAL WIFE: Has A Silly With a SyllableI figured out how to access the stats for our blog! <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/saturday-divine-liturgy-in-hattiesburg.html">Saturday Divine Liturgy in Hattiesburg: An After-Action Report (AAR)</a> has the most pageviews by a longshot. Everyone likes pictures. I told Alex he should do more like that. No one wants to show up and not know what to expect.<br />
<br />
That would be AWKward.<br />
<br />
It's like when native English speakers say maTOOSHka.<br />
<br />
It's AWKward.<br />
<br />
You should say MAHteshka.<br />
<br />
MAH MAH MAH MAH<br />
<br />
MAHMAH?<br />
<br />
MAMA?<br />
<br />
maTOOSHka! "Kerzempteit!" ...Um... I think you mean gesundheit.<br />
<br />
MAHteshka! Then some pretty lady says, "Yes, dahling?"<br />
<br />
DAHling! Not dull-ing.<br />
<br />
<br />
maTOOSHka! <b>*everyone looks at this person AWKwardly*</b> They think you're saying your tush 'ka's.. whatever that is. See how AWKward that seems? Tushes are AWKward.<br />
<br />
I know. I have a degree in AWKward.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
SU'PRISE: You are currently reading it.<br />
<br />
<b>maTOOSHka!</b> Yes, I was that person. I feel your embarrassment. Give it to me. I will write it down and eat the paper. No one need ever know.<br />
<br />
MAHteshka!<br />
<br />
Now I'm imagining little baby chickens trailing behind me. They go *peep* with every step. *peep*... *peep*... *peep* They are pink baby chickens, Easter baby chickens.<br />
<br />
*peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep* if you run.<br />
<br />
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Except now the little baby pink Easter chickens are saying, "MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH! MAH!" This is what you're signing up for when you enter an OW entry--<a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a> --and I'll guarantee a lot of people's pronunciation is soon to improve.<a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a><a href="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/anandkrish16/anandkrish161202/anandkrish16120200341/12223208-baby-chick-isolated-on-white.jpg" height="40" width="45" /></a> ...</div>
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Remembering a certain pink baby chicken from an Easter long ago,</div>
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<i>A Lady Who Has Cats</i>... <b>Vicious Vicious Cats</b></div>
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PS:<b> </b>I just realized that nowhere in this post is the actual vocabulary word. So, for that chick years from now who I'm writing this for, it's <i>matushka</i>, and you can read <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/ow-tina-ortho-culture-meets-tina.html">more broadly</a> and <a href="http://orthopractical.blogspot.com/2012/08/official-wife-matushka-deconstructed.html">my thoughts specifically</a>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-77265192812015857192014-03-14T14:27:00.001-05:002014-03-14T14:27:23.658-05:00Praying With My Feet: St. Benedict<a href="http://prayingwithmyfeet.blogspot.com/2014/03/st-benedict.html?m=1">Praying With My Feet: St. Benedict</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
It is Fr. Benedict's nameday.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-45597794242539376832014-03-14T09:46:00.000-05:002014-03-14T09:46:03.398-05:00Prosphora baking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The greatest difficulty of preparing for divine liturgy once a month in Hattiesburg is the baking of prosphora. After years of baking prosphora, I finally have an excellent recipe for prosphora baked with all-purpose flour. Unsurprisingly, it is essentially the recipe for french bread (2/3 hydration wheat flour bread).<br />
<br />
One thing that is often insufficiently described in the many recipes for prosphora baking is technique. Numbers abound, but never do we learn how to do the thing. But, what one man can do, another can do.<br />
<br />
So here is my technique for baking decent prosphora.<br />
<br />
First: you need a stand mixer or high counters. Since I have low counters, I use a stand mixer. KitchenAid Classic, 4.5 quarts.<br />
<br />
Second, you need fresh ingredients.<br />
<br />
Third, you need patience.<br />
<br />
And then you begin. Please note that this recipe makes five "host" sized loaves in the Russian tradition, with some dough left over for a test loaf. It is essential that you test your bread, because nobody appreciates salty or dry prosphora.<br />
<br />
1. Pray.<br />
<br />
2. Get your equipment, including a kitchen scale, ready.<br />
<br />
3. Weigh out 393 grams of flour into your stand mixer bowl.<br />
<br />
4. Add 7 grams salt. I use pickling salt, which is uniodized and very fine.<br />
<br />
5. Weigh out 266 grams of lukewarm water.<br />
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6. Dissolve 2.25 teaspoons of instant yeast in the water, stirring carefully to hydrate fully, and wait for ten minutes.<br />
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7. Pour the water and yeast into the flour and salt.<br />
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8. Start mixer on low setting (2 on my KitchenAid). Observe until dough has been fully homogenized and is stuck to dough hook. Then, let it keep mixing (kneading) for at least 6 minutes, up to ten minutes.<br />
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9. When your dough is finished, it will have fully covered the hook, and will have a smooth, semi-gloss texture. If your dough looks wet or is beading, keep kneading it.<br />
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10. Let rise covered for 1 to 1.5 hours, until doubled in size.<br />
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11. Remove dough from mixing bowl onto floured surface. Lightly knead dough until air pockets have escaped, and you have a uniform ball of dough a little bigger than a softball.<br />
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12. Divide that ball in half, more or less.<br />
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13. At this time, feel free to prepare your baking sheet. I use two half-sheet pans, each with parchment paper on them, for the second rise. Eventually, one of them will be used to bake the prosphora.<br />
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14. Roll out the first portion of dough into a rough circle, about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Using a toothpick, poke all bubbles. If you handled step 11 correctly, there should not be many of these.<br />
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15. Using your large (base) cutter, cut five loaf bases out of the dough and place them on parchment paper covered half-sheet pan, covering with tea towel.<br />
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16. Roll out second portion of dough into a rough circle, about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Using a toothpick, poke all bubbles. If you handled step 11 correctly, there should not be many of these.<br />
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17. Using your smaller (top) cutter, cut five loaf tops out of the dough and place them on second parchment paper covered half-sheet pan, covering with tea towel.<br />
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18. Let rise for about 1/2 hour. Turn on oven and set to 350 degrees F.<br />
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19. Using a toothpick, poke twelve holes into each base, signifying the Twelve Apostles. Then, lightly brush with cool water. Brushing with water helps the two halves join.<br />
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20. Place a lightly-floured top on a bench knife or flat spatula. Flour the seal, and press firmly into top, leaving a good relief. Gently place top on base. Repeat five times.<br />
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21. Depending on the seal you use, you will poke between four and nine holes through the loaf from the top to the bottom. This helps join the top to the bottom.<br />
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22. After a minute or so, place prosphora in the oven. Bake for no more than 25 minutes at no more than 350 F.<br />
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23. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Prosphora should not be brown or toasted looking, although golden is acceptable.<br />
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24. Give thanks to God that you have managed to bake prosphora without embarrassing mishap.<br />
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Please note, I've been doing this for five years, and it's taken me this long to get a recipe that works about 80% of the time. This is ascesis, pure and simple.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10854137162146125813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4378823850776723208.post-25981188748923375412014-03-12T20:05:00.000-05:002014-03-13T16:35:31.863-05:00OW Vegan LOW CARB: Mashed "Potatoes"<div style="text-align: left;">
Time is a-tickin'! No more lollygagging!</div>
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I'm starting on the Easter basket! We made our budget and shopping list for Easter this afternoon. It's less than I anticipated so I'm moving some money into Christmas. How nice! Remind me to talk shop later.<br />
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I like the color of the yellow one better, but I barely got everything to fit into the big brown one last year. --and last year, I split off a portion of everything in the little brown one for Loot Droppin' Ortho Lady.<br />
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Decisions... so hard. Okay, I'm going with the yellow one. I'll just put my foot down with Alex. No more five pounds of bacon in my basket! No more. Unless...</div>
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Unless, unless, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/561964859723092534/">unless...</a></div>
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It's a bunch of <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Bacon-Roses/">bacon roses</a>! At which point, it has slightly toed over the line into acceptable... if it's coupled with my basil.<br />
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The cheese pyramid also takes up a lot of room.... I've investigated alternatives, but he's pretty wedded to this mold. </div>
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Oh cabbage is my friend. Cauliflower is my friend. Mushrooms-- those are friendly, too. Carrots are welcome anytime. Tomatoes, well I <i>thought</i> they were my friends, but I found out they're talking about me and the mushrooms-- behind our back!!-- to the cabbage, no less.</div>
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So I'm waiting for a carefully worded low-carb apology.</div>
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(Don't worry. We'll make up. Give it time.)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Mashed "Potatoes"</span></b>
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<ul>
<li>large head of cauliflower (730g)</li>
<li>8 cloves of garlic, roasted (40g)</li>
<li>1t black pepper</li>
<li>2T nutritional yeast</li>
<li>scant 1/2c soft spread (e.g. Great Value Cardio Spread, Country Crock, 96g)</li>
</ul>
Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, including the stem. Steam until soft. Add remaining ingredients and mash, as you would potatoes usually.<br />
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<b>Serving Size: 1/3c (77g) 12 servings per recipe</b></div>
<b>67cal | 5fat | 4.7carb | 2protein | 1.8fiber | 55.7sodium</b> <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calories.asp?recipe=2700511">Complete Nutrition Info</a><br />
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I made four TV dinners. Here, my mashed "potatoes" are topped with sauteed balsamic mushrooms and accompanied by (R-L) steamed cabbage topped with cayenne, homemade applesauce in a muffin tin liner, boiled carrots, corn leftover from church, and under the ketchup packet is a green bean and purple hull pea mix, light on the peas and heavy on the green beans.<br />
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<b>321cal | 12fat | 48carb | 13protein | 15fiber | 149sodium</b><br />
<b>Notably: 152%B6 and 39%B12, 9%Ca 13%Fe</b><br />
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I find vitamin Bs a bit difficult from just plants. It's all from the <i>[EDIT: nutritional yeast in the cauliflower mash, which was on an adjacent line to the]</i> applesauce here. I'd note that an apple is only around fifty calories, while I'm at it.<br />
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While, I wouldn't call this a low-carb dinner, this is definitely comfort food. Tonight, however, I'm having shrimp on a bed of mashed "potatoes" (like grits a bit) with a side of sauteed green beans, which I believe will qualify as low-carb and high protein-- but likely lacking in some of the vitamins (and comfort) this dinner provides. The only seafood that I ate growing up was fried catfish at benefits... I'm adventurous, but shrimp will never be as satisfactory as a Southern Vegetable Dinner-- with a biscuit. ;)<br />
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[UPDATE]<br />
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A meal of eight shrimp, two and a half servings of mashed "potatoes," and 90g of green beans was<br />
<b>250cal | 14fat | 18carb | 15protein | 7fiber | 261sodium</b><br />
<b>Notably: 193%B6 and 61%B12, 11%Ca 19%Fe</b><br />
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I think mashed "potatoes" is a winner! I put cauliflower back on the list to make another batch next week. I also had some with salad, which you'll see in the OW VEGAN LOW CARB dressing entry.</div>
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