Posted in Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

You’re Teaching Adults, Did You Know?

Greuze, Jean-Baptiste - The Spoiled Child - lo...
Greuze, Jean-Baptiste – The Spoiled Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Did you notice?”

I asked my husband that question recently, and he just nodded.

We were watching an adult who acted just like a little spoiled child.

Ever seen that?

And how it’s harming us all?

Sure you have!

And there’s a remedy for it, an easy remedy.

And you can play your part.

We see so many adult-sized children floating around and directionless, these days because someone forgot to train them for their jobs.

(You know how immature you feel when you arrive unprepared–like a little bad girl…)

So where are the trainers for the adults who act like little rotten kids?

Look in the mirror.

You see, the training for the job of being an adult comes during childhood, don’t you think? And we adults must do the training.

There is no other really effective and efficient way.

I wanted my children to learn, during their childhoods, how to be great adults. Not greatly over-sized children.

I wanted them to arrive prepared.

I know you want the same thing for your children.

Let’s raise our children to maturity while we can; the day comes when they will rule us.

Let’s all think more about home schooling next year.

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What’s THAT stuff?!

Calamari = squid.

Squid served at a restaurant

The body can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces or sliced into rings. The arms, tentacles and ink are edible; the only parts of the squid that are not eaten are its beak and gladius (cartilage). I’ve seen it battered and fried like onion rings. It’s supposed to taste sweet.

I’ve eaten rabbit before, and it is sweet, so squids and rodents taste similar?

Groans.

You can hardly find a stuffed mushroom in a restaurant, anymore, except those with squid squirted into them. That’s just wrong.

Canterbury Hill
Canterbury Hill

However, there was a time when my brother took us all out to eat al fresco, on a breezy summer’s eve, to a lovely place near his home just outside Jeff City, Missouri. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer and I became so enamored with this dish.

They were creamy and savory and warm and I’d never eaten anything I liked so much that wasn’t sweet.*

I mean, I wanted to eat everyone’s serving.

I mean, I had to remind myself to behave.

However, there on a flagstone patio, noshing over a wrought iron table, I began analyzing.

And I never stopped until last year, when I figured I knew how to make those mushrooms.

And today, I publish my recipe for the first time, ever, over at Dining with Debbie.

Go there.

You’ll be glad.

 

* And it’s NOT squid!
Posted in Food, Funny, Recipes

I got mad at Betty.

I’ve been baking furiously, here, trying to get a cake for 60 or so people ready for this coming Sunday, when our church will host a baccalaureate for our seniors.

I am used to baking and decorating larger cakes, have done several for various showers and weddings. I love doing it.

However, cakes have a way of failing when you are making them for a special event. I’ve had many mix cakes fall, and occasionally, a scratch cake will fall for me.

This time around, I chose to use a mix because I have the following activities in my life the same weekend:

  • Helping host the Arkansas Home School 2014 Graduation in Searcy
  • Helping a newly widowed woman move into town
  • Preparing and printing the brochures for our baccalaureate
  • A camp rally at our church’s camp near Mena
  • Cleaning and decorating our church for the baccalaureate

So, you can see, I really did not have time to make scratch cakes and although I never prefer it, I bought mixes and hoped and prayed they’d turn out.

Well, they did not fall.

But when I attempted to turn the first one out onto a rack to finish cooling, it stuck.

It was firmly IN the pan, so firmly it left parts of itself behind and nearly broke in two as I wrestled with it.

As I complained about how they just don’t make cake mixes like they used to, I sort of pieced it together and started on the next cake, determined to really slather the pan with oil and flour, so this one would not stick.

I reached for the other pan and, lo! it was already oiled.

It was the pan I’d prepared for the first cake, but I’d inadvertently poured the first batter into an unprepared pan.

I said a lot of mean things about you, Betty, and I apologize.

It was all my fault.

😉

____________

UPDATE!

The final product, I am so glad to say. Doing this was like watching a scary movie! Seven pounds just in the frosting. Aren’t we amazing!

Betty and I
Betty and I
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My Spaghetti Farm Guest Post!

Yum Lasagna!
Yum Lasagna!

I have never shared my spaghetti sauce recipe with anyone but my own children.

Today I break that practice. I hope you enjoy!

The reason is that I have again been allowed the amazing privilege of guest posting at Farm Bureau’s blog site, thanks so much to Arkansas Women Bloggers!

I share there, how to make lasagna pasta in one, simple, easy-to-manage sheet. You will not believe how much more often you will feel like pleasing everyone with a sumptuous lasagna supper, once you eliminate the cost, inconvenience, and grief of store-bought, pasty-white, lasagna noodles.

Since most folks make red lasagna, using regular marinara or spaghetti sauce, I thought: why not go all the way and make the entire dish from scratch, beautifully and deliciously natural, whole, and health-giving!

So, here is my recipe, a rare, costly, never-before-given gift, from me to you. All I ask in return is that you go to my guest post , leave a thankful comment, and share it everywhere you can think of!

My Secret Spaghetti Sauce

2 Tbsp. olive OR coconut oil OR bacon grease
1 lb. lean, ground, American beef or venison (opt.)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 to 3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 c. fresh, mixed Italian herbs, chopped OR 1/4 c. dried Italian herbs
1 dash cayenne powder
1 qt. whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 c. catsup
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. corn starch, stirred into 1/2 cup water (if not making lasagna)

Brown meat (if desired), onions, and garlic in oil or grease, stirring often, until meat is crumbly and vegetables are clear, to slightly browned. Stir in Italian herbs and cayenne, and warm for a few minutes in the meat and/or fat. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and catsup, until well blended. Heat through and simmer on low, covered, until ready to serve. At the last minute, stir in Worcestershire sauce, and cornstarch/water, if desired. Heat through again, stirring constantly and it is ready. Yields enough for one 9″x13: lasagna, or six servings of spaghetti with salad.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Look Up.

Large, violent tornadoes can cause catastrophi...
Large, violent tornadoes can cause catastrophic damage when striking populated areas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With all the tornados floating around lately, come many more words about tornados. It’s a real storm out there and I’d like to add to the din.

I wrote a couple of years ago about my close call with a really big, destructive tornado. People like to read about these events. Not just y’all; I read these stories too.

As I was re-reading some of these writings today, I noticed something. I think the events that shape our lives prepare us for living a successful life in the end. I think we can look back on our childhoods and see how God was preparing us to face our future.

If we pay attention . . .

One thing in particular that stood out for me, as I read these old stories today was this: It was no time for hurt feelings.

Not then; not now.

I wrote about my six-year-old self:

I knew it was a tornado up there, whatever a tornado was. I looked up, too, and stumbled.

Mom scolded me sharply. “Don’t look up! Don’t look up! Don’t look up!” She seldom scolded sharply. It hurt my feelings but I knew it was no time for hurt feelings. Her words were like a mantra, a warbled charm against bad omens . . . don’t look up, don’t look up . . .

As I notice the world today, I realize how  much I knew back then, and how much my mom knew, and what good I could make of it if I only paid attention and applied it to my current life.

  1. When we look at the troubles, we stumble. It IS  huge storm all around us, but the storm should not be our focus, at all.
  2. If someone is trying to save our lives, we should not get hurt feelings. Those who know the way to safety are life-savers. Some of us probably should be slipping into that role, but we enjoy ignoring the storm, more.
  3. We are in a huge storm, like it or not, and it is NO TIME FOR HURT FEELINGS! Regardless of what happens, hurt feelings are a distraction and not deserving of our time or attention.
  4. DON’T LOOK AT THE STORM! DON’T LOOK AT THE STORM! DON’T LOOK AT THE STORM!

One caveat:

We should look up.

Jesus told us it would get worse, and when it does, to look up. To stand up. To lift up our heads.

Why? Because our salvation will be very near.

 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke21:28 KJV