Next Chapter

For more than a year now, I have seriously neglected my poor blog.  I have traveled a long and winding life path with some ups, some downs.  A year ago, my mother in-law passed away at the nice age of 93, a little over six months ago, my uncle passed on at the way too young age of 65.  Because life has a wonderful way of going on, we get to look forward to the arrival of our first grandchild this fall.

During this time I found myself seriously distracted and spent many an hour pondering over life and the meaning of it.  I suppose it is also something that comes with age, the realization that time ahead of us is shorter and our past is longer.  Unfortunately, all these deep thoughts were not conducive to cooking.  For the first time in a long time, I had found myself not enthusiastic about it.  Instead I have been focusing all of my efforts to my business…I guess it was a good way to distract myself from my morbid thoughts on life and death.

Well, it’s time to put mourning behind me and get back on track.  My business prospects are looking up and I feel more like my old self and getting back into the cooking swing of things, but first, I am off for a couple of weeks holiday. I want to thank my visitors and apologize to not responding to your comments.  I will return July 1st and take care of all of my neglected business.

In the meantime…..Good Day and Good Eats!

Grand Dames and Doughnuts

Doughnuts

Granny K. February 11, 1899

Grandma O. February 11, 1912

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have been following my blog you may have noticed that I tend to pay tribute or remembrance to people with food.  I guess I owe that to my Grandma O. pictured above.  Some of the fondest memories I have of her are connected with food, perhaps because she always seemed to be cooking up some tasty food for us to eat.  She had a magic hand in the kitchen that could make something as lowly as a boiled wiener for our hotdogs taste like no other.  I know now that the magic wasn’t so much her talent in the kitchen (though she had plenty of that), it was her presence in our lives.

Grandma O. was my mother’s mother, and Granny K. was my husbands father’s mother.  As it turned out, both Grand Dames were born on February 11th, though 13 years apart in age.  Had my Grandmother not passed away, she would have been 100 years old this year.  Granny K. did live to see her 100th birthday, put passed on just 3 months after that.

Granny K. was not known for her cooking skills, but her talent for knitting rivaled all.  Even in the latter years of her life when her eyesight diminished to where she could barely see, her fingers became her eyes and she continued to knit up a storm.  When my son was born she was my inspiration to pick up the needles and teach myself to knit.  There is barely a day that passes when I am knitting that I don’t think of her just as I think of my Grandma every time I sew or cook.

To celebrate their birthdays this year I decided to dig out the deep fryer and make doughnuts.  As a child my Grandma would on occasion make doughnuts.  Grandma’s doughnuts were light airy things like deep fried clouds.  She never picked up the pieces and rerolled her dough but fried up all the bits and pieces and they were after being cut.  Sometimes the pieces looked liked animals or people, our imaginations were fueled by those yummy morsels and made them all the more fun to eat.

Grandma also made the best percolated coffee ever.  I would plead and beg her for a cup to have with my treat until she gave in a would pour me a half a cup of coffee generously milked down and sweetened.

“Coffee stunts your growth.” she would tell me as she put the fragrant cup of brew in front of me.  As a child and already small, what did height matter? At times I considered her words when in high school at 5’3″ and it looked as though I would always be one of the shortest kids. Even to this day if I close my eyes I can still imagine the taste and smell of the coffee and doughnuts there in Grandmas kitchen, and you know what?  I have absolutely no regrets drinking her coffee!

So, this past February 11th, I pulled out the deep fryer and found a quick recipe for raised doughnuts to whip up.  The doughnuts were tasty, but I was disappointed that they didn’t match the doughnut memories of my childhood.  Oh, how I wish I had Grandma’s recipe for those, but until then, this recipe will definitely do.

I think this is a good uncomplicated recipe for yeast raised doughnuts, especially if this is your first time making them.

Yeast Doughnuts

3 to 3 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

3/4 milk

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

Cooking Oil for deep frying

In the bowl of your mixer combine 1 1/2 cups of flour and the yeast.  In a saucepan heat the milk, sugar, shortening and salt and heat until just warm (115 to 120F).  Pour this into the mixer bowl with the flour and the yeast.  Stir to mix.  Add the eggs and beat at low speed of your mixer for about a minute and then beat at high speed for about 3 more minutes.  Turn the mixer back down to low speed and gradually add as much of the remaining flour as you can to make a soft dough that is smooth and elastic, about another 3 to 5 minutes.  Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double. (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).

Punch down the dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Cover and let the dough rest about 10 to 15 minutes.  Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out your doughnuts.  Cover and let your doughnuts rise for about another 45 to 60 minutes.

Using a deep fryer, heat your cooking oil to 375F.  Carefully add 2 or 3 doughnuts to the hot oil and fry about 1 minute, turn and then fry for about another minute more.

Remove the doughnuts from the hot oil and drain on a wire rack or paper towel.  When cooled slightly but still warm roll the doughnuts in granulated sugar or glaze with icing.

This recipe makes 16 to 20 round doughnuts.

February 11, 2012 was a memorable day.  A good cup of coffee, more than a couple of homemade doughnuts, relaxing with my knitting and remembering two Grand Dames was what it was all about.

 

Good Day and Good Eats!

Souper Star

Worries go down better with soup. ~Jewish Proverb

The days are undergoing the slow transition to spring.  Some are sunny and warmer than the ones before.  Others are grey and wet, unsure whether to drop rain or snow from the clouds.  Like the outside, I here on the inside feel as restless as the weather.  I ponder whether I should go outside and try my hand at gardening, or is that pushing it I wonder as the blue patches of sky are crowded out by the every growing cloud population above.

I chicken out.  Instead of cleaning up the garden I have decided to finally get my act together and clean up my blog and get with the program. (Yeah, I know you have heard that from me before!)  What can I say?  Life gets in the way.  I also have the dreadful fault of when pressuring myself, I end up rebelling by avoiding what I must do. It becomes a vicious circle for me. Knowing I must do things, avoiding doing those things, worrying because I can’t get past my mental block about what I have been avoiding…..I have become the Queen of Denial and Worry!

What to do?  Make soup of course!  Who doesn’t find a hot flavorful soup comforting?  I know that after I eat a great bowl of soup I always feel much better.  Add a freshly baked biscuit and you have a meal that is not only healthy, it lightens the heart.

The awesome thing about making soup is that you really don’t need a recipe.  You just take what you have on hand and follow your taste buds!

This day I had some wonderful spicy Chorizo sausage, fresh kale, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and a can of white beans so decided to make my own version of the Portuguese soup Caldo Verde.  I originally came across this recipe in cookbook by the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith on foods of our Immigrant Ancestors.  The original recipe uses one pound of kale to produce the green color that is signature to this dish, hence the Verde part of its name.  The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly and was rewarded with a flavorful but very green looking soup.  It was wonderful except for the fact that it was too green for hubby and mother in-law.  It took me a long time to eat that whole big pot of soup by myself!

This time making it I cut way back on the onions and the kale.  Not a word out of my husband on the green part of the soup, however, as a sauce and gravy guy, he was a bit skeptical when I placed before him what he thought was a watery looking soup.  However, after the first spoonful, he stated with surprise, ‘you don’t need a thick soup for great taste!’, promptly eating one bowl before even biting into the biscuits I had made to go with the soup.

Need a pick me up? Do yourself a flavor and put on a pot of this soup!

Caldo Verde

1 bunch of kale

1 onion, cut in half and sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, minced

4 Chorizo sausage, cooked and sliced.  The sausage lends a great deal of flavor to the soup broth, so try to purchase a good quality sausage for this recipe and spicier the better!

4 potatoes, peeled, and sliced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks celery sliced

2-3 quarts of water or chicken stock

olive oil

1 can of white small beans

salt and pepper to taste

Remove the thick ribs of the kale and slice into thin strips.  Place in a bowl of cold water and let soak for one hour.  Drain well.

In a stock pot, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil.  Add the garlic, onion and celery.  Saute until tender.  Add the remaining ingredients, except for the canned beans.  Cook for a minute or two and then add the water or soup stock.  Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer gently for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the vegetables are cooked and the flavors have blended.  Add the beans and then adjust the flavor with salt and pepper if needed.  Serve with fresh hot baked biscuits to make a hearty souper meal.

Enjoy!

Good Day and Good Eats!

 

Short On Time, Long on Taste – Scallop Vegetable Stir Fry in Oyster Sauce

These cool gray February days have been leaving me sort of uninspired on the cooking side of things.  I seemed to have started the new year with a bit of a punch, looked forward to it with a renewed enthusiasm, but of late that has withered and died.

We live in a valley that has been blanketed with thick low gray clouds that even the sun has hardly managed to pierce.  As I get older I seem to feel these days worse than I did when I was younger.  Also having moved here almost five years ago from the prairies where the sun seemed to shine more often than not, living back here in the mountains which act as a holder for the clouds in the winter and spring seems to make it much harder to deal with.  So, I have been using my time to concentrate on my sewing and knitting…all which I do underneath bright lights to keep the darkness at bay.  This focus on my crafts has me resenting being pulled away to cook dinner, so this calls for something short on time, long on taste!

One way I choose to break the winter doldrums is to cook something colorful and nutritious.  The best way to do that when I have lost the enthusiasm for cooking, is to make a stir fry.  The prep work is not intensive, the cooking time is a breeze and the wonderful flavor will have you smiling.  Winter? You ask.  What winter?

The great thing about stir fry dishes is that you don’t need much in the way for ingredients to whip one up.  This day I happened to have hanging out in the freezer a pack of scallops.  They are the tiny scallops which work really well for stir fry.   Another good thing about stir fry is that no real recipe is required.  They are open to about any kind of vegetable and seasoning you have on hand.  The one staple I always have on hand in my cupboard is Chinese Oyster Sauce.  It is a wonderful seasoning, and once you use it you will never want to be without a bottle of it handy.  I frequently cook Asian style so quite often I have fresh ginger on hand and seasonings such as Chinese cooking wine, sesame seed oil and light and dark soy sauces. If you don’t have these on hand don’t sweat it.  Make it up with what you have on hand.  Dried ginger can be substituted for the fresh, just omit the Chinese cooking wine if you don’t have, and the same goes for the sesame seed oil.  If you don’t have soy sauce, oyster sauce or both, you could use a chicken or vegetable based bouillon or stock instead of the water to flavor and make the sauce.

Scallop Vegetable Stir Fry in Oyster Sauce

Scallops

Marinate scallops with 1 tablespoon of corn or tapioca starch, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine.

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 onion cut into large squares

Fresh sliced mushrooms

Carrots, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Broccoli florets – Blanched in boiling water mixed with 1/4 teaspoon baking sold and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Drain and set aside.

Stir Fry Sauce:

1 tablespoon Tapioca or corn starch

1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine

1/2 cup water

Multiply this recipe to match the amount of stir fry you are making and how much sauce you want to serve with your dish.

Heat your wok or large frying pan.  Saute the onion and ginger lightly.  Add the vegetables except for the broccoli and stir fry until tender crisp.  Add the scallops and fry for about 3 minutes until the scallops are firm.  Add the sauce mixture and stir until it boils and thickens.  Add the blanched broccoli and cook for another minute to heat the broccoli.  Serve with rice.

If you want to punch up the texture of this dish toss in a handful of nuts such as cashews or almonds or for a vegetarian version omit the seafood and just use nuts.

So, until the spring sunshine gets here stir fry some up!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Ripe for Baking-Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins

It’s another cool winter day here.  Not as cold as it has been, but none the less it is still winter.  A lot of the snow has melted, but the sky is filling with clouds that are no doubt carrying the snow that is predicted to fall tomorrow.  I don’t know about you, but there is nothing like this kind of weather that has me craving carbohydrates, most especially contained in a package of something tasty and sweet!

The sun peaked through a break in the gathering clouds to shine down on some bananas I had ripening as if sending a message from heaven…must…make….chocolatey good banana muffins!  How could I not heed the heavenly call when so obviously the bananas were perfectly ripe for baking.

My mother in-law shudders whenever she is over and spots ripe bananas such as these on my kitchen counter.  She will only eat a banana if it is slightly green at the top and does not have a blemish of any kind on the skin.  Sadly my husband is a banana from her tree.  Once a banana skin shows signs of browning he will not eat it.  I can eat only so many bananas so needless to say I have come up with many creative ways to serve up the ripe fruit.

Ripe Bananas are not just used for Banana bread.  Four days ago I served Bananas Foster for dessert using three bananas from this bunch.  They weren’t as ripe as the ones pictured above.  The skins were brown but the fruit inside was still firm.  Some butter, sugar and a splash of good dark rum and mother in-law and hubby had no idea of how ripe a banana they were eating…and I might add they didn’t seem to care one whit as they shoveled back the treat served over ice cream.

But now almost a week later, the remaining three bananas are ready for today’s treat, Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins!

This recipe produces a nice cake like muffin that is a snap to make up.  A blender, a bowl, spatula and muffin tin is all the equipment you really need!  If you don’t have a blender, a mixer will work just as well.

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins

Preheat oven to 400F

Grease the cups of a muffin tin.

In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the following  ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts, or nut of your choice

1 cup mini or regular size chocolate chips

In a blender add the following ingredients and mix until well blended:

3 very ripe bananas (to make about 1 cup of mashed banana)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 vegetable oil

Add the wet ingredients from the blender to the dry ingredients in the bowl.  Using a spatula stir just until the ingredients until mixed but do not over beat.  Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cups and then bake in the 400F oven for 20-25 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

The muffins are baked, and the house is filled with the warm aroma of bananas and chocolate.  The sun is behind the clouds for good now, but after having eaten two muffins I don’t care.  Sometimes you have to make your own sunshine and if it takes a really yummy muffin (or two or three)…so be it!

Good Day and Good Eats!

 

A Good Morning Quiche

A Good Morning Quiche

Eat Breakfast!

A new year resolution that I consistently make every year.  A resolution that I in fact make and break several times over the course of the year…every year.  In fact today, while I am writing this post, I have on the desk a cup of coffee…my third so far this morning…and not a crumb of breakfast food in sight…except for the picture I have just inserted into this post.

In fact, this picture of the delightful quiche I made and had for breakfast just a few days ago is now but a fond memory.  It turned out so well, that within two days, between my husband and myself we had finished off the pie!  I had it for breakfast, we dined on it for lunch, and my husband was dipping into it for dessert after dinner.

Yesterday I bought the supplies so that today I could make another.  With any luck it will be around long enough to supply me with more than one breakfast.

Back to breakfast….I love breakfast foods, but not necessarily eating them at breakfast.  If there are leftovers about, that is what I love to eat in the morning.  Previous breakfasts I have eaten have ranged from spaghetti to turkey and mashed potatoes!  I have come to realize that while I love to cook…I don’t especially like to do it first thing in the morning.  If there is food handy I will eat it for breakfast.  If not, it’s coffee for breakfast, because it is ready made.  I have a coffee pot with a timer, so no thought is involved to make it in the morning.  With my eyes shut I can pull a mug from the cupboard and pour myself a cup.  It’s satisfying, if not filling.

~Leaving the writing for a moment to put in a slice of bread into the toaster~

Talking about food is making me hungry, and it is after all already 10 a.m., so I have resorted to putting a slice of fruit bread into the toaster.  I have some wonderful leftovers in the fridge from last night’s dinner, but I have opted to save those for lunch and my next post…so toast it is.

Returning to the quiche…it really does make a great breakfast.  Hot or cold and served with fresh fruit, you have a complete meal and a breakfast you can feel good about eating.  Not only that, if you are on the run it is fast making it easy to eat before you head out of the house, or quick to pack and take with you.

This quiche is made with bacon and Gruyere cheese but can one can easily replace the bacon with other meat or seafood, and the Gruyere can be replaced with another cheese like cheddar if you like.

Try it!  I think you will like it and if you are like me trying to hurdle the ‘eat breakfast’ resolution, you might just find this to be one of the solutions!

Quiche

• Pastry for one pie crust
• 6 to 12 slices of bacon, chopped (or I purchase bacon ends from our butcher. I cut off the overly excess fat to make the pieces meatier and chop it up to use in my quiche.) You want at least one cup of cooked bacon pieces.
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups whipping cream
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Line your pie plate with the pie crust.

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a whisk.  Brush the pie crust with some of the beaten egg and bake for 3-4 minutes in a preheated 375º.  Set aside the pre-baked pie crust to cool while you are preparing the filling

In a skillet over medium heat cook the chopped bacon pieces until browned but not overly crisp.  Drain the bacon pieces and sprinkle onto the pie crust.  To the bowl with the eggs, add the cream, salt and nutmeg, and blend together well with the whisk.

Pour the egg and cream mixture over the bacon in the pie crust.  Sprinkle the cheese over top.  For an added pop of flavour you can sprinkle smoke paprika over the top of the pie filling before putting in the oven.

Bake the quiche in a preheated 375º oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the filling is puffed up and lightly browned, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  The filling will settle down as it cools.  Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

Options:

Crumbled cook sausage meat like Italian or Chorizo, ham, crab, shrimp or smoked salmon, or just sautéed vegetables like onion, celery, spinach and peppers if you prefer a vegetarian take on your quiche.  Try different cheeses like cheddar, Swiss, or something with zip like a Jalapeno Harvarti.  The variations are endless and you will soon discover your own family favorite!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Stollen Moments

Since my last post, while it might have seemed that I had dropped off the face of the earth, this picture is proof that I am alive and have been baking!  This picture shows a sample of the baked goods featuring Christmas Stollen that I made and we gave to our friends and neighbors this past Christmas.

Life had a quirky way of interrupting my writing last year and Christmas was no exception.  Mother in-law took ill the week leading up to Christmas which had most evenings spent in the hospital emergency room so they could administer her medication.  It was tiring for us all, but most especially for this 92 year old lady.  Just in time for the Christmas weekend the arrangements were finalized and we were able to give her her medication at home.  Daily I had to hook her up to an intravenous but at least it could be given to her while she was comfortably ensconced in a recliner and visit with family while it was being administered.  This episode was a reminder that at her age of 92, time with her grows shorter each day, and you have to grab life’s moments while you can.

Now that we are into a new year I look forward to sharing more stories and recipes from my kitchen, which I am most especially looking forward to since I also had to buy a new oven before Christmas.

Happy New Year friends!  I wish you much health, wealth and happiness in this new year of 2012!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Life, Snow and Cookies

Well, here I am back in the blogging saddle again.  It seems like my best intentions keep getting side swiped this year.  I guess I could sum up this year for me as one testing my ability to hang on and bounce back.

Thankfully the only change in my life today is the weather.  This morning we had our first real snowfall of the season.  The wintery scene outside had me thinking ahead to Christmas, and I was creating a list of food to buy so I can bake up some goodies for the festive season.  I hadn’t intended on baking cookies this afternoon, but while rummaging through the cupboards to see what I had lurking in there and what I would need to add to my list, I ended up spilling an opened bag of chocolate chips.  They were the mini ones, and so that meant I had a lots of picking to do to gather them up.  Since cleaning up the chocolate chips led to cleaning out the cupboard I also ended up coming up with a small bag of dried sweetened cranberries were not the freshest when I bought them, so instead of getting eaten they were just moved about.  The chocolate chips and the found cranberries were calling to be used up, so I decided some cookies were in order.  Besides on a wintery day what could be more better to bake and fill the house with the sweet rich aroma of Oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips?

As added incentive, these Oatmeal cookies are a one bowl deal, so there is no excuse not to whip up a batch!

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375F

In a electric mixer bowl, stir together the following ingredients:

2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

When mixed, add 1 cup shortening or margarine and 2 eggs.  Beat mixture until well combined.

Stir in 1-1/2 cups rolled oats, 3/4 mini chocolate chips, 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries and mix well. You can also add nuts or substitute the cranberries for nuts.

Using a teaspoon, measure out a heaping spoonful of dough about the size of a walnut.  Roll into a ball and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand and place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Depending on the size of your cookies you should get between 4 and 6 dozen of cookies.  Bake in a 375F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Cook on wire rack.

Well, as I finish writing this while munching on a warm cookie that’s leaving the melty goodness of chocolate on my lips, I am thinking I really should clean out another kitchen cupboard and see what else I can come across to cook up…stay tuned!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Meatless Monday – Tomato Cheese Pie

Tomato Cheese Pie

In an attempt to change our diet to a more healthier one I decided that Mondays would be meatless.  I figured that way at least one day out of the week our meals would be higher in fiber and also be more of a cooking challenge for me.  I am not a full fledged vegetarian, but I have had times in my life when I have eaten as one.  I know people who are vegetarians for all sorts of reasons.  They run the gamut from saving the animals to health and dieting.

I myself am a meat eater and I am not ashamed to admit it.  I don’t argue that some animal farming practices could be improved and I am sure that in time they will be.  In fact, there are more and more places now sprouting up that are raising and butchering animals in a most respectful way and we should be supporting their efforts whenever possible to encourage changes.

I don’t dwell on the life and death of my food for it would put me off of it all together.  I am still not convinced that even broccoli doesn’t cry when cut off at the stem!

Whatever we choose to eat, whether it be meat, vegetable, fruit or dairy, we should always respect our food.  Say thank you to the plants in your garden when you harvest their fruits…say a little silent prayer for food exchanging their life for yours.  Respect keeps us all healthy and wise!

That being said, when I announced to my husband that Mondays would be meatless from now on, his reply was that he would have the previous nights leftovers for dinner. They contained meat of course.

‘That’s fine’, I replied, ‘but you will be missing out on a very good Tomato Cheese Pie.’ He remained non committal as he ate his dinner…the pie was still in the oven.

‘You didn’t say it was Quiche!’  He exclaimed when he saw the pie cooling and then proceeded to eat two wedges of the Tomato Cheese Pie…ahem… Quiche.

This recipe is very delicious and made for a great meatless dinner.  I had some fresh crispy green onions with my pie and found it a very satisfying light meal.

Tomato Cheese Pie

1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

5 medium size firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs

1/2 whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Dip tomatoes into boiling water to soften skins for peeling.  Peel and slice tomatoes, removing the seeds and membranes if they are not real meaty otherwise your pie will be too runny.

Fill unbaked pastry shell with alternate layers of tomato slices and cheese.

Beat eggs, add milk, cream, pepper and salt; pour over tomato-cheese mixture.

Bake in hot oven (450 F) for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 325F and bake 40 minutes longer or until set.

Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before cutting.  Enjoy!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Recipe for Life

Holy Cow!  Where has the summer gone?  It seems like just yesterday I was planning and looking ahead to the warm summer days.  Now it seems suddenly we have leaped into early autumn days of preparing the house and garden for winter.

Busy with fall cleaning I thought I would leave you with a few wise words that I discovered in an old cookbook published by the Ladies’ Axillary to our local  Canadian Legion Branch.  I don’t know the publication date, but my guess would be that it was put together sometime in the 1960′s.  In any event, until I finish my cleaning and get around to some serious cooking I would like to share with you what I think is a Recipe for Life.

Take Time for 10 Things

1. Take time to Work – it is the price of success.
2. Take time to Think – it is the source of power.
3. Take time to Play – it is the secret of youth.
4. Take time to Read – it is the foundation of knowledge.
5. Take time to Worship – it is the highway of reverence and washes the dust of earth from our eyes.
6. Take time to Help and Enjoy Friends – it is the source of happiness.
7. Take time to Love – it is the one sacrament of life.
8. Take time to Dream – it hitches the soul to the stars.
9. Take time to Laugh – it is the singing that helps with life’s loads.
10. Take time to Plan – it is the secret of being able to have time to take time for the first nine things!

Good Day and Good Eats!