I Am a Lucky Woman

I'm a lucky gal...my husband bakes bread! I asked him to share his recipe. It's a pretty basic recipe, but for whatever reason, whenever I try to make it all I get are hockey puck loaves. In his hands, alchemy happens and something divine is the result.

This is not a recipe for the beginning baker, the instructions are sparse and assume that you already know a little something about baking bread. One trick I have observed, since I got my Zoji bread machine a few years ago, he does let the machine do the kneading for him. Then he forms the loaves and bakes in the oven. Go for it.... may the goddess of the harvest smile on you too.

Classic French Bread
Makes 2 loaves

1 cup cold water
1 cup boiling water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 Tbl salt
1 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl shortening
6 cups about flour

Mix all but flour and let proof for at least 5 min (10 better). Stir in flour a little at a time til dough feels right (sticky but doesn't stick to fingers). Then knead until it's smooth and elacticy. You might use all the flour, you might not. Allow to rise covered in a greased bowl at least 45 min, punch down and rise again for at least 45 min.Make into loves (2). Cover, let rise for at least an hour. Slash the top of the loaves with a knife. Brush on a glaze of 1 egg white and water,beaten together. Set oven 350 deg, place a pan of water in oven in the bottom rack. Bake until golden (about 40 min) and internal temp is about 180 deg.

You can add 1 Tbl each in the mix stage of parm cheese, minced garlic and italian seasoning for some awesome garlic herb bread.

Your Lucky Day

Well, this could be your lucky day. A blog my sister told me about is offering a cool prize, just for visiting the site. So go visit, 5 Minutes for Mom and register for a 37" flat screen LCD HDTV, compliments of Best Buy. Viral marketing at it's finest!

Sounds of Summer

We're fortunate to live nearby a national park, Homestead National Monument. Among other cool things they do is have a campfire program on summer evenings. Last night, we enjoyed The Little Brown Jug band. Outstanding bluegrass fiddling mingling with smoke from a small fire ( it was after all, still 90 degrees at 8 pm) and the night sounds of woodlands in summer. They played just over an hour and I wish it had been two. A perfect twilight entertainment.
State parks often have fun evening events too, check out your park system, do something different this summer!

More Birds

The baby Barn Swallows have all flown the coop, so to speak, and not a minute too soon. They had only been gone one day when the apartment manager came to knock down the nests. He'd been by about 2 weeks ago and wanted to do it, but we insisted that at least the babies needed to be out of it before he did so. He thought we were being too soft hearted and went off grumbling. I think he's been watching it as much as we have,but with a whole different interest level.

It was sad watching them try to come back and finding their home gone. The mama made many attempts to feed the kids, big fat juicy bugs dangling from her beak. Eventually they seemed to understand and we discovered that there is definite Barn Swallow language for being po'd.

This photo is a little guy that's been living in a small pine tree near our patio. He was making a lot of noise the other day, so I went investigating. There's a small nest and this cutie was hopping all over the tree. Still haven't seen any adult birds, so not sure just what kind this one is.

Fair Time!

How long has it been since you've been to a real county fair? Not an overtly commercial attempt at a fair, but a real agricultural centered county fair. It'd been ages since we'd gone to one and we made up for it by going two nights in a row. We saw concerts, pigs, cattle, horses, canned produce, a gianormous cabbage and all sorts of other things I'll share in the next day or two.

Tonight, a shot of the midway. We're way past the wild rides, so our big event was the ferris wheel. Rides sure have gotten wilder it seems, and the addition of strobe ligthing makes them seem a lot wilder. I'll stick to the old fart thrills. Nice for photos if not excitemet.

Alligator Wrestling in Nebraska

The highlight of the Gage County fair last night was the opportunity for kids to catch a wild alligator. The owner of the Wild Game show that's presenting this challenge, says the allogator was found locally.They were mobbed. It's a real alligator alright, about 6 ft long and it splashes and squirms so the kids think they're really wrestling a monster. And then, once you get the creature caught, for a measley $5 you can have a Polaroid of the moment. Uh huh. I guess it doesn't matter that the gator's jaws are duct taped shut.

It's a scary world

Apparently human kids are not the only ones that return home after they've flown the coop. All 5 kids were back in the nest this morning! It's a scary world for us all.

The Next Food Network Star

Last night was really disturbing on the Next Food Network Star. One of the contestants, Jag, was revealed to have lied about his culinary background and his military service. He was one of the final 2 contestants and I think he probably would have won. He'd been given a chance to correct the misstatements and did not do so. Then he was confronted by the show and he resigned. I hope it was a forced resignation. It's not that his military record has anything to do with his cooking ability, it has to do with integrity and trust.

This has been one of my favorite shows to watch in the past. This season it has been really lackluster, bordering on boring. The challenge ideas have been interesting, but none of the contestants seem to have any natural leadership ability or strong enough personalities to keep you interested in their show. I think Alton Brown had in right a couple of weeks ago when he suggested sending them all home!

To me, the contestants who were in one to one choice situtations with Jag over who was being eliminated really got the worst of this whole deal. Had Jag not been such slime and continued under false pretenses, one of the others may have had an opportunity to really rise to the occasion and shine. I hope The Food Network does something nice for these double losers. I wish when Jag's lies had come to light, TFN would have restarted the whole comptetition.

I'm a huge TFN fan. It's appointment tv for my household. In the summer doledrums of reruns, we watch our favorites over again and give the boring shows a second chance to grab us. Unfortunately, there are a couple of really boring hosts... I hope the new season brings the sparkle back to TFN and that Alton Brown shaves.


PS... Alton Brown is my favorite host, but the boy really needs to buy a new motorcycle or something for his midlife crisis and get over the beard thing.

Class Photo & Graduations

Here's the class photo of the fledgling Barn Swallows. This is the last shot I got of them all together, on Saturday morning. By Saturday night, one of them had taken off to explore the world. In typical teen age fashion, he or she didn't even leave a note! We'd been gone for the afternoon, so we didn't see the take off, but we were glad to not have found a bunch of feathers in the grass.

Today, there's been some wing flexing activity in the nest. I think the next two that will be taking off next have been hopping from the main nest to the little secondary nest and flapping their wings a lot today. It's like they just discoverd them They raise them up above their shoulders and flap wildly for 20 seconds and then turn around to see if their sibilings noticed before settling into a new spot in the nest.

One little guy tried climbing from nest to nest by scaling the wall inbetween, eventually he tried his wings. I was so excited to get this shot of a Barn Swallow's first flight!

A Week of Swallows

We humans are always saying how we're amazed at how quickly our children grow. I wonder what we would say if we were birds. I read that the parent Barn Swallows fly up to 600 miles daily to feed the babies. They only eat insects, so that's alot of meal prep! Probably explains why we've been able to sit in the twilight and not be bothered by mosquitos. The two parents continue to be constantly in attendance, at night one sleeps in the nest with the kids and the other sleeps in the secondary nest. That's the second bedroom just visible at the right edge of the photo. The parents haven't been too disturbed by us, when they swoop in and we've just gone out, they complain a little bit, do a couple fly by's and then come feed the kids anyway. Now, they do not like flash photography! That tends to tick them off a bit, but duty calls and they keep bringing home the bacon.

What they do mind is a stray cat. One unfortunate cat tried strolling through the patio the other night and suddenly a full squadron of swallows appeared and chased that cat to the far edge of the yard! I swear my indoor cats were laughing themselves silly while they watched that little adventure. We call our sliding glass door Cat TV, and they've been glued to it all week.

Anyway, here's how they've changed in just 7 days from the first photo I posted. They still look rather prehistoric here, don't they? These were taken on 07/07/07, just 2 days after the above photo.

In just 2 more days, they were looking a lot like Albert Einstein....
The smoky looking halo in the photo is actually a wild bunch of feather fuzz making its first appearance. This is one of the bigger babies. There seems to be a span of about 3 days from what we can tell from the first 3 appearing, to finally seeing all 5 of the little guys. Don says they remind him of muppets! They've spent alot of time hanging their heads over the edge of the nest, extending their necks while opening and shutting their beaks. It's been really hot this last week, maybe that's a cooling activity. The photo to the right was was taken 07/09/07.

Two days later and what a major difference! I expect to see them start to move out of the nest in the next day or 2. Already the larger ones are trying to balance on the edge. Oh, here's something I'll bet you didn't know about nest housekeeping! Even as teeny 4 day old birds they knew to hang their butts over the edge of the nest to ummmmmm, relieve themselves. No potty training appeared neccessary. Clean up on aisle 3! Photo taken 07/12/07. I hope I'm home to see the fledgling flight attempts.

Barn Swallows

A family of Barn Swallows are making their home on the roof of our patio. We've named the mamma and pappa Chatty and Cathy. The seem to have tried out our location for several nights before starting to build their nest. Cathy would roost on the end of an exposed screw and Chatty would harrass her for hours before settling down to roost close by. This went on for more than a week. It was like they were arguing over site selection. Soon they started to build a nest. It went together quickly out of mud, sticks and grass. Oddly enough, a second shallower nest was built several inches away, like adding an "in law" room to your home. It seems like Dad gets to sleep in the second nest.

Just this week, on July 2, some tiny little beaks poked their way above the edge of the nest. They were literally all translucent beak and neck, just popping out when Mom or Dad swooped in with a meal. Today, 3 days later, they are starting to make tiny little noises and have developed some dark gray down. And we discovered tonight, there are 5 babies!

Random Stuff About Me

So, I was tagged... here it is....
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME ...
1)Name one person who made you smile today? Don
2)What were you doing at 8:00 this morning? Tuning in to Pandora radio before I started my work projects for the day
3)What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Cleaning up the dinner dishes
4)What is something that happened to you in 1998? I inherited some money unexpectedly
5)What is the last thing you said aloud? Luna! to a cat about to tip over my glass of water
6)How many different things have you drank today? Tea,Vitamin Water, Water, 1 Soda, Coffee
7)What color is your hair brush? Black. But my favorite comb is hot pink!
8)What was the last thing you bought? Cat litter
9)What was the last gift you received? A very cool CD of new Michael McDonald 10)What color is your front door? White.
11)Where do you keep cell phone? In my bag. Terrible at remembering to charge it up.
12)What was the weather like today? Overcast and humid
13)What is the best ice cream flavor? Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk
14)What are you excited about?
15)Do you talk a lot? No
16)Name a weird food you like?
17)Cold or hot? Cold mostly.
18)What's your favorite thing to do?
19)Do you want to cut your hair? Always, but I rarely have any idea how I want it.
20: Are you over the age of 25? HA! I mean... yes!
21)Are you ticklish? yes
22)Are you typically a jealous person? I don't think it's jealousy, but I am very competitive.
23)Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "L" : Lynn
24)Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A": Allison
25)Do you chew on your straws? Never
26)Do you have curly hair? Straight as a stick.
27)What is the next concert you're going to? Some fledgling country star that's palying the county fair... I promised my mother I'd take her. I don't care for country music.
28)Who is the crappiest person in your life? We won't go there. I'm trying to not see it that way.
29)What is your favorite color? Turquoise
30)What is something you say a lot?
31)What's your room like? My home office/craft room..too small, needs more shelves
32)What was the last movie you saw? Pirates of the Carribbean.. Edge of the World
33)Do you have work tomorrow? At my paid job, no. At a bunch of other stuff, yes.
34)What's your dream job? Something that overpays me for being creative and lets me keep my own schedule.
35)When was the last time you said "I love you"? An hour ago
36)What should you be doing right now? Exactly what I am doing right now.
37)Do you have a nickname? Not really. My daily use name is a nickname, of my given name, but not something like Cutie Pie
38)Are you a heavy sleeper? Yes
39)When is the last time you did the dishes, honestly? this morning
40)What are your pet peeves? People who let their dogs out to roam the neighborhood letting them poop everywhere. People who don't scoop the poop. Drivers talking on cellphones, People who don't close cabinet doors. When I misjudge the distance something is and drop it....sign of time to get new contacts. People who speak very loudly in communal areas, like the next cubicle over or on their cell phone.People who take young children out to restaurants without having given them a snack first!

Don't Let the Music Die

Do you listen to Internet Radio...like Pandora or any of the independent music stations around the net? There is a bill in front of the Senate that could end it all and it's coming up for a vote in the next few days. If you care about this issues, as I do, let your politicos know how you feel.

This is especailly important for those of us in rural areas or with musical tastes that go beyond Top 40.

Weekly Tarot 06/22/07-06/29/07- The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man, Universal Waite

What's your first reaction to this card? Does it seem a little weird that the guy is clearly trussed up but totally unconcerned? In fact, in this rendition, he actually looks almost meditative to me and he certianly is not at all upset. Or maybe he's been trying to get untied and we catch him here in a moment of catching his breath before he tries once again to wriggle free. What do you think?

Hanged Man always reminds me of the grand illusionsists, starting with Harry Houdini, getting themselves out of the straight jacket. It seems impossibe to us, but they always manage to do it. How? Maybe it's by looking at a situtaion with a different point of view. Maybe it's by calmly evaluating the situtation before taking action. Maybe they see the impossible as merely a challenge to our preconveived notions of what is and isn't do-able.

I've also heard of this card compared to images of Jesus on the cross. Now, that's a little far fetched for my understanding, but if it floats your boat, go for it. I can almost see the connections between willing sacrifice, especially that of one person sacrificing for the greater good, but that's not my real understanding of this card.

Some keywords for this card are contemplation, perspective, patience, resourcefullness, surrender, letting go, trust, giving up, overcome.

When I draw Hanged Man for a weekly overview, I see it as a time to look for a new perspective on something in your life. It's a Major Arcana card, so it is of importance and deserves thoughtful consideration. What's going on in your life that isn't working quite the way you hoped it would? That's the place to become the Hanged Man and look for a different solution. Maybe you'd benefit from physically changing yourself in response to the issue. How? It can be a simple as just taking the discussion to a coffee shop instead of your kitchen table. It could be an impromptu trip to a new destination... anything that gives you some new input. Maybe it's just a random word said by a chat room pal... be aware and you'll understand the Hanged Man's powerful impact.

Quilting Memories

The town I live in, Beatrice, Nebraska is celebrating it's 150th year as a town this entire year. This past weekend, I went with my mother to a quilt display that spanned the entire 150 years. There was one quilt from each decade. Most of them seem to have come from one family, lucky them, to have that heritage. It was a sweet, unpretentious display... no glass cases, no one demanding that you not breath on the quilts. There was a small, very small sign, asking that you not touch the quilts, easily overlooked. In a larger city, I have a feeling there would have been a white gloved museum archivist, actively guarding the past. I have to admit, I touched.

I'm a texture person, couldn't help myself. There was a crazy quilt from the Civil War era that captured my heart. Slivers of fine velvets, satins mixed in with common cottons told the story, but it was the elegant, flowing embroidery that really spoke to me. It was almost as though the quilt maker was saying, "they can take my stuff, but they can't take my soul." I think most people had dramatic life changes during that time period, no matter what side they championed. Goods were scarce, families separated, nothing was stable. But the quiltmaker perservered. Her finery may have been reduced to rags, but she could turn them into something beautiful to serve another purpose. The stitching was as fine as any lady of leisure could have done, although I suspect there was not alot of leisure time for ladies of that era.

So, I wonder, did she do those feathery stitches while wondering what became of a lover or son? Did she loose herself in stitching as she mused about her life back east, before the chaos? What memories did the velvet hold for her?

As I turn to my crochet work to ease the stress in my daily life, I connect with the unknown quiltmaker, and I understand.

7 Of Wands Voyager Tarot

7 of Wands

The images of this card, from the Voyager Tarot is filled with warriors, masks and lights. This is a troublesome card for many people, it causes us to have to look our inner selves right in the eye and not blink. When we draw the 7 of Wands, it's time to stop kidding ourselves and get real. You'll know in your inner heart of hearts, what is it that you're avoiding or masking simply because it is easier to do so than to actually face the truth.

Your inner turmoil for this cycle may be related to something small, but it's far more likely that the turmoil goes right to the core of who you are. It's woven in the fabric of your self image, whether you realize it on a conscious level or not. If you work with the 7 of Wands this week with meditation, freestyle writing or visioning , you'll find yourself on the path to great growth.

Sometimes growth of our souls happens slowly, but it does happen when we allow the light to shine through the dark. Often, what we see in the light is not what we expected or wanted to see, but it is truth nonetheless. Be brave and allow yourself to look inward this week. To allow the clarity and warmth of the light into our lives is the first step to finding home.

Cow Chip Bingo

Life in rural America has it's joys, stresses and oddities. It's the oddities that are on my mind this morning. Festival season in Nebraska appears to start the first weekend in June. We had our choice of a nationally sponsored bbq cook off, a Rail & Trail themed event celebrating the area's railroad and pioneering history, a German festival and a tribute festival to a small town's founder. The weather was wonderful, breezy, dry and sunny. How to choose? Easy....how can you not choose the one that highlights cow chip bingo! I ....... you not. You fill in the blank.


Picture this; a large field with about 5 cows milling around, doing their cow thing. Silly humans actually spend money to buy a numbered flag. The flag is assigned a position on the bingo board and is placed in a corresponding position in the field. And then you wait. What are you waiting for? Well, the big plop of course! Really. And when it finally happens, the flag nearest the plop is the winner of a prize. How long you wait is of course totally up to the cows, who are known to be exceptionally contrary on occasion and the event can run as long as an hour. Chicken .... Bingo has been known to take up to 2 hours! In this case, it was a quick game with winners declared in under 10 minutes.


Now, I've been to a lot of festivals in my former life as a craft show vendor. I've been to CottonPickin' Days, Muleskinner Day's, Peanut Festivals,Peach Festivals,Old Mill Days, you name it, I've probably been to something like it. I thought I'd seen just about every kind of event a committee of well meaning yet deranged minds could dream up. Now, I think I really have. I wonder what's on deck for next weekend?

And Yet Another Address

Once again, I've tied on my flying shoes and taken a leap of faith step with my life. It was a giant step, all the way from Texas to Nebraska. Now, that doesn't really look like much on a map, but trust me, it is a huge leap!

For the last year, I've been struggling with an all too common situation for people my age; long distance aging parents who need someone nearby to help them out. I didn't want to be the one to pack up my life and go. Especially since the destination was a very rural location in Nebraska, where there are miles and miles of corn and snow... most of all snow.

Mentally I played out many scenarios. I tried to discuss alternative plans with my siblings. Nothing was jelling and it was becoming increasingly clear that going was the only choice. Even my dreams were clearly telling me the right thing to do. So, with the full understanding and participation of my husband, we decided that we would go to Nebraska. He's remarkable. This makes 9 major moves in our 33 years. We'll talk about moving at a later date.

And here we are....we traded one small town in Texas for an even smaller town in Nebraska. We've traded a 3 bedroom house for a 2 bedroom apartment. We've traded working from home in our jammies to driving 80 miles a day to jobs...each. We've traded our predictible, self centered lives for the challenges of the unknown. And it feels right.

In the Moment

I've been making an effort to really keep myself focused on living in the moment for the last couple of months. I am overall an optimistic soul but for the last several months I've found myself worrying alot and having some real issues with anxiety. I know better than to allow my mind to spin these huge worry webs. I am no novice to the ideas becomming so popular with the Secret. I know where I have my focus, I have my result. I teach these metaphysical life laws and I help other people create their best possible life. So why am I so wrapped up in these sticky worry theads?

Becasue I am an ordinary soul living a human life with lots of challenges. Just like everyone else. Knowing the universal laws and principles is one thing; living them daily is quite another. The most difficult aspect of having some awareness of the magnificence that is possible, to me, is staying focused on the awareness. It's my biggest challenge to truly let go and allow the bounty to flow over and through me. It remains that way even though I have first hand experience and KNOW that the laws work. I forget. I lose focus. I'm human.

So, I am making a concentrated effort to live in the moment. Just for today, as I teach my students. To be aware of how the the worn keys on my keyboard feel smooth and cool on my finger tips. To be aware that I am sitting slouched over and my back will protest in a moment. To be aware that I hear the wind blowing outside and that in this moment of writing, I am completely at ease with myself and my place in the world. Oops.. a distracting thought just popped in...my mind is in hyperanxiety mode right now, dams being built against its currents... I can let it go. Noticed and released. Back to the moment. I'll let you know how the rest of the day goes.

Sinful Peanut Brittle

Everyone once in a long,long while, my husband gets an enormous case of candy cravings and I head to the kitchen. I love making candy, but with only the two of us to eat it, candymaking usually waits for the holidays. Or when the Great Norwegian Gimme Candy Monster appears. Peanut brittle has been the focus of this fall's appearance and I've got it down to a no brainer recipe at last.

I even thought I had a million dollar idea when I decided to add cinnamon and cayenne into the syrup. Until the very next week on Good Eats, Alton Brown did exactly the same thing and now every Food Network host has also used the same combination in some way. I guess it was a cosmically brilliant idea floating around and we all grabbed it at once. Make it. This is totally addictive stuff. Join the rest of us addicts who will put ourselves at risk of losing fillings before we'll stop eating this sinfully sweet and spicy peanut brittle.

Ps...if you cook it right, I doubt you'd loose a filling. It's hard and has a great snappy crack to it!


Sinful Peanut Brittle

3 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 1/2 Cups Light Karo Syrup
3 Cups Raw Peanuts
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Butter

Put the sugar, water and Karo syrup into a deep 2 quart pan. Stir to mix, then stop stirring. Bring to a boil and allow to boil until the hot syrup reaches 300 degrees F, or a hard crack stage. Carefully remove the thermometer and add salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and peanuts. Stir to mix. The temperature will immediately drop. Continue cooking until it again reaches 300 degrees. Remove from heat. Carefully stir in the butter until it is completely melted. Next stir in the baking soda and blend well.

Immediately pour onto 2 buttered cookie sheets and allow to cool. When completely cooled, smack the cookie sheet on the counter to break into serving size pieces.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS!
1. When you pour out the hot candy, it will immediately set up. If you like thin peanut brittle, give yourself some working time to spread it out by keeping your cookie sheets in a 200 degree oven while the syrup boils. Remove just before you need them and apply butter or spray with cooking spray. Warm cookie sheets will let you spread the mixture out as thin as you like.

2. If you like things on the spicy side, adjust the cinnamon and cayenne carefully. I am a medium bite person. I use a rounded teaspoon of cinnamon and a level one of cayenne. Keep in mind that you have to complete a batch before you actually know what it tastes like, no taste testing of the hot syrup!

3. Be sure to let the syrup really cook to 300 degrees.Cooking to 305 degrees is ok too. I know every website and most cookbooks tell you that you can recook candy that is just too soft, but don't believe them. How I know? Well, lets just say that it took a trip to see Super Son-In-Law and his trusty Dremel tool to have the rock hard burnt sugar wire brushed off of my favorite pan. My favorite pan that is no longer in the candymaking arsenal.