A Wonderful Class

 Here is an email I just sent to all members of our immediate family and thought I would 

expand upon it and share with you!

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Dear Loved Ones,

Several of the sisters in our ward, including the whole Relief Society presidency

 and the Primary president, are participating in a Self-Reliance Course by the 

Church called Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience.  It is a Zoom

 class where we can all comment and discuss what we are learning.  

The manual is just plain fabulous and can be downloaded.  I downloaded it 

and printed it out since it is a new manual and won't be available to purchase

 until our class is nearly over.

Anyway, I am learning a lot.  I wanted to share this one page with you that has

 already helped me.  I think there are times when we all need to readjust 

our thinking patterns.  I am making an effort to do so and find it useful.  Maybe I really

 am turning over a new leaf!!

May you all find it helpful, even you angel grandchildren who are just starting

 to form your own thinking patterns.  Make your lives happier by choosing 

accurate thought patterns.

Love and light to you all,

PACC

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That was followed up with another short 

message:

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Dear Ones,

One thing I did not say was that the point of 

looking at that

 list is that we cannot change inaccurate 

thought patterns

 unless we recognize them.  Awareness is 

so important.

Another thing to consider is that there can be

 triggers that send us in an inaccurate thought pattern. 

When we become aware of these triggers, we can prepare

 for them,  and change how we respond.  

There is a little attachment about triggers worth reading.

May we all become aware of these triggers and learn better ways of 

thinking that will help us know our, and other people's, divine worth.

XOX

PACC

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Both of these pictures are from:  Finding Strength In The Lord: 

Emotional Resilience, 

published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2021.

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There is a wonderful website where there are multiple "Self-Reliance"

 classes freely 

available to anyone who would like them.  In our area they are available via 

Zoom.  

Some areas may have them face-to-face.

There are classes on things like Personal Finance, Find a Better Job, 

Starting a New Business, etc.

When I find something good, I like to share it. I do not know who might benefit 

from one of these classes, but this class which we are involved with

 is already helping me!

Plant Started From Clippings

 Probably three months ago a friend gave me a few clippings from a plant she had seen.  I cannot quite remember the backstory, but I was pleased to take the clippings home. I did not have much hope for them since I kill almost all houseplants I work with.

Here is the plant today:

It is so lovely and full and growing like a week, really!  I am so happy with it.  Success two days in a row with vastly different beginnings...!

Munchie Monday: Sourdough Pancakes

 Our daughter and her family went on a camping trip this past weekend.  One of their preparations was to start some sourdough pancakes which our son-in-law likes to make.  I asked for the recipe.  I did not have all the ingredients (well, I did not have any whole wheat flour and did not feel like going upstairs to the wheat and beans closet, haul out the grinder--in this case the VitaMix--grind the flour, etc) so I made some substitutions.

These are the pancakes as I made them.  On the night before you want the pancakes--and we were going to have them for lunch--in a large bowl place:

1 cup activated sourdough starter
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups bread flour
2 Tablespoons sugar

Stir together well.  Cover and let sit on your counter overnight.

In the morning stir in:

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs

When the batter is well mixed use a portion scoop and cook on a pre-heated non-stick griddle that has been set to 350 degrees F.  Cook until bottom is nicely browned and bubbles are visible on the top.  I used a one-quarter cup portion scoop and managed 13 pancakes.

Dear One had NO PROBLEM eating these pancakes!  I had thought of putting blueberries on top before flipping them but remembered the mess that always makes, plus I thought I would try the naked recipe first before changing it a lot.  He said, after eating five of them right down slathered with maple syrup, "This is what I have been begging you for the last two years!"  

Well, isn't it nice to have a food success, even though Son-in-Law might not be thrilled with the liberties I took with his recipe...

Dear One has been "begging" for nice fluffy pancakes, not the flat nasty ones I usually make.  These were at least one-half inch thick.  Not sure why, but I will take it!

Wednesday Wonders: Sunflower Field

Yesterday I went to the Dorr Farm store to pick up some vegetables.  Dear One and I had driven over there on Monday to find they were closed that day, despite the website indicating they were open every day.  Dear One did mention the possibility of calling before we went but I was a limp rag on Monday and really wanted some fresh vegetables and blackberries so I did not bother to call. Oh well.

 When I went by myself yesterday to the farm it turned out that the blackberries were either not in season or all sold out...BUT we did get zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, new red potatoes, one cucumber (we don't like cucumbers normally but these from the farm may be good with hummus--after I make the hummus!), and one Cherokee Purple tomato.  

As we drove into the farm along one side of the road on Monday I took great joy in the big field of sunflowers with their heavy heads hanging.  Yesterday I stopped and took some pictures.  Here is one of them.

These flowers reminded me of a trip my sister and I took to New Mexico one year ages ago where we also found sunflowers at the side of the road. In that case they seemed to be the smaller brand of sunflowers and the fields stretched for miles.  They were ALL facing the sun as we drove by.  A very sweet image.

These sunflowers at the Dorr Farm appeared to be the large sunflower-seed plants.  It is so nice to see all the beauties in this world Our Father has given us to inhabit and enjoy.

On the way back from the farm I drove by the road home but it turned out okay because where I thought I was supposed to turn right I recognized the name of the road which I had seen on the CORRECT way home...so I got to drive the whole length of that road instead of just seeing the sign for it at the other end!  It was a lovely rural journey and I still made it back to known territory before the rain struck, which was nice.

Food Friday: Chocolate Banana Bread

Rich, moist, chocolate-y and a way to use up on-their-way-out bananas: the perfect recipe--

Chocolate Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups plain flour 
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup room temperature butter, no substitutes
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Whisk the first four ingredients together and set aside.  In mixer bowl combine butter, sugar and eggs and beat on high for 2 minutes until creamy and light.  Add the mashed bananas (OR if you are like me, just throw in the almost-gone-by bananas and let them mash in the mixer bowl with everything else...), yogurt, and vanilla and beat another minute or two until smooth.

Stir the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients to coat...in the possibility that the chips will not sink to the bottom.  Add these ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until flour disappears.

Pour into a well-greased 9 by 5 loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes.  Be sure NOT to use a smaller pan or you will have overflow onto the floor of the oven, OR if you were smart enough to imagine there might be overflow, onto the cookie sheet you placed on the next lower rack of the oven just in case.  That overflowed batter makes pretty good eating, except for the burned part on the bottom...!

Remove from oven then let cool in pan fifteen minutes then carefully loosen the edges and remove from pan to a cooling rack.  To be sure the bread is cooked, it would be a good idea to stick in a toothpick and have it come out clean.

Here is all that is left of this very moist, chocolate-y banana bread. I took the rest to a Relief Society activity.  It was mostly popular.  Always makes me happy to provide something edible...

Fun Project Failed! Really Failed!!

 Not too long ago as I was watching lovely flowers blooming I happened on a YouTube video where the smart girl was pressing flowers to use for greeting cards. I thought that would be a great idea.  Her process was to take chip board and place two sheets of card stock between two sheets of chip board.  She then inserted her flowers between the two sheets of card stock then weighted the "sandwich" of paper and flowers with a heavy pile of books.

Quick and easy peasy, right?  So simple, right?

Wrong.  At least it went wrong for me.

After one week of pressing the flowers (in this case they were roses from a beautiful bouquet) under a family Bible that must have weighed at least ten pounds, I decided to see what we had.

This is the chip board--all moldy and nasty.  You can just IMAGINE how the flowers looked!  They went immediately in the trash and the trash was emptied.

This was a mammoth fail.  I have just found another method--using the microwave.  I will update you when that is done...It cannot be any worse than this, unless I burn down the house.  That would really be quite unpleasant....

Easiest Envelope Ever!

 Recently I had need of many envelopes.  I had lately been cutting a 12 by 12 piece of scrapbook paper into two 6 by 12 pieces of paper.    To make the envelope I fold up 3 inches on the bottom  with the inside of the envelope facing me then glue the edges and press them together.

This method has worked moderately well, but sometimes I get the glue further into the envelope interior  than it should be to insert the A2 size card easily. So something needed to change.

It just so happened that our daughter sent me the link to a man who was giving a tutorial on Link Stitch Binding with Sewn Covers in book binding.  In this tutorial he was using a paint stick or some such thing to help him keep the glue he needed to do in the proper place.  Well!!  I am not so smart, but I can recognize a good idea when I see it!!!  And this was such a good idea

 

Here is a "glue template" that I made out of a leftover piece of chip board.  I cut the chipboard 3 inches by 5 3/4 inches.  You can see that there is 1/8 inch on the interior of the envelope along the each of the sides where I can insert glue with the handy little needle-nosed bottle I have for the Reptile glue.

Once the glue is applied, I fold up and press the paper together.  Once it dries, I insert the card which is A2 in size (4 1/4 by 5 1/2--basically half of an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of card stock).  At that point I fold down the top of the paper over the card and bottom of envelope.  

With this new batch of envelopes I am going to start another new thing!  I will use re-positional glue sticks to place the glue for the envelope closure. I am certain it will get great!

This makes me happy.  AND is so much easier.

Fun Knitted Toy

 A few months ago when I went to my medical practitioner, I discovered that she was expecting a baby. I was so happy.  So happy for her, and so happy for me, because there was a knitted project I had been wanting to make but had not need of it and too many other started projects to start another one.  Now that I would have need of this toy, I pulled out yarn and got started!

Dear One had some interesting comments which I won't share, but basically, he asked me what this is. Well, it is a mini cuddle toy for an infant. I made it in cotton yarn so it can be washed every day if needed.

Basically what you do is knit up a square of fabric and set it aside.  Next you knit a head, ears, a strip that becomes paws, and then a collar.  The head needs eyes and a nose/mouth which need to be embroidered on if you care about the baby.  The actual pattern I used showed that there were beads sewn into the ears!  I could not believe this.  Well, I passed on decorating the ears.

Once you have put the head, ears, and paws together, you find the center point in the square/washcloth, then stitch on the head/paws unit.  Once that is done, you stitch on the collar and you are done.  Well, you need to stitch everything together again and again so the head will not fall off.

So now here is the question:  what animal do you think this is meant to be?

Munchie Monday: Orchid's Cool Tangy Noodles UPDATE

 In the past I have passed on the recipe for Orchid's Cool Tangy Noodles which I first had many years ago while I was working at Dartmouth College in the Off Campus Programs office.  One of our professors invited my colleagues and I to a Noodle Hour at the Asian Language House where she had prepared several types of noodles.  All of them were new to me.  My favorite was Orchid's noodles.  I have made them many times since for group functions.  Usually they are very well received.

This time when I made them I made a change in the actual preparation, though not in the recipe.

In the recipe:  after cooking the noodles I put them through a strainer to drain them then returned them to the pot without pouring cool water through them.  This time I poured the sauce over the still-hot noodles and carefully tossed until the sauce was all sucked up into the noodles.  I LIKED THIS!!

The thing I liked best about this method was that sauce did not drop off the noodles into the bottom of the dish, leaving the top noodles less flavorful.  Such a good thing.  

Of course, if you want to serve these noodles cool, as title suggests you want, you will need to let the noodles come to room temperature then refrigerate.  They are perfectly delicious at room temperature or slightly warm.  Dear One ALWAYS heats his bowl in the microwave, so you can eat them any way you like!

ORCHID'S TANGY COOL NOODLES 

A tangy northern-style blend of sweet, tangy and spicy tastes 

1 pound long thin Chinese egg noodles, fresh or frozen 

3 1/2 Tablespoons Chinese or Japanese sesame oil
3 1/2 Tablespoons black soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons well-aged Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar if you cannot locate black vinegar)

2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon hot chili oil
4 heaping Tablespoons thin-cut green and white scallion rings 

Bring a generous amount of unsalted water to a full rolling boil over high heat. Add the noodles and swish them with chopsticks to separate the strands. When the noodles are cooked (2-3 minutes) pour them into a large colander in the sink and run cold water through them until cold. Let drain well and place in large clean bowl.

After cooking the noodles-fluff fresh or defrosted noodles in a colander to release any tangles. Take care not to break any. In China long noodles are a metaphor for a long life. 

Make the sauce by mixing all the other ingredients together and let sit while the noodles cook and cool. Pour over the cold noodles and stir carefully. Garnish with plenty of chopped green onion

New Day

 Maybe others do not have the same problems that I do, but I think everyone has something they struggle with.  For myself, when I come up short on goals and plans I have set, I sometimes need a marker to help me get back on the wagon.  Markers might be Sundays (a day of rest and refreshment at Church).  They might be Mondays (a new week starting).  And most notably, they might be the start of a new month.  Yesterday was the start of a new month.  I had a medical appointment which may have helped me get back on track.

So as a result last night I set my alarm clock for the first time in years.  I never needed an alarm because I was able to awaken when I needed to.  Recent years I have had few days when arising early was critical so I have gotten out of the habit, thus the alarm set.  I set the alarm on my phone and wondered if it would wake me up with an alarm on my watch.  It did.  Of course, I had been awake for more than two hours and had just dropped back off to sleep so the buzzing on my wrist did shock me!  So I got up.

My appointment yesterday encouraged me to become regular, have a routine, and stick to it.  So I ran my numbers as I always do, read my scriptures as I always do, put on the clothes I had laid out last night so I could find them in the dark as Dear One slept, then went downstairs to have oatmeal, blueberries, banana, and almond milk with a shake of Great Grains on top to tilth it up a bit.  Following that I disarmed the alarm, opened the garage door, and grabbed my stroller.

After shutting the garage door again, I remembered I had promised the plant pot which was full of dead petunias to a lady a few streets over in our complex.  I yanked out the very very dead plants, dumped the dirt beside the trash bin to mix in with the soil there, washed out the pot, then headed off. I figured since it was almost a week since I promised the pot to her that the lady might have found a better one, but when I got to her house she still had the same planter that she thought needed re-potting. It made me smile to have come through, even though pretty late in the game.

On I walked and came onto Niblick Road.  So many houses have gone up in the past few months and four more are now ready to fly.  

You can barely see the cement pads that have gone in this week for four more homes there behind the dumpster corral. I will be interested to see if these have a different style than other houses nearby.

As I walked across the dam I looked for the alligator but he was not visible though I did hear him when I was up in the night. I checked to see if he was visible behind our house.  I think he has a cave just beyond the brush at our property line...and for this reason I have NO INTENTION EVER of removing that brush!

This photo is closer up but taken from the dam so you cannot see the imagined cave area.  The crepe myrtle here is actually on our neighbor's property but our crepe myrtle is right beside it and also in bloom.  So pretty.  Crepe myrtle is all over the sap works here in town. So many different colors and shades.

This picture was taken from the sidewalk just at the end of the trip.  If I had waited just a moment and stepped back a few feet I would have had a picture with both flags flying.  Makes my heart sing.

Anyway, today was the first day of the rest of my life. Again! I hope I can pull off a few more days with the new routine until it becomes automatic and health and well-being for both of us improves!  Wish us luck...