Bacon Perfume

Christmas was great this year, with plenty of food, no one terribly sick (Jim was recovering from a cold,) and the usual delicious treats. TOO MANY treats this year!




One of Jim's birthday gifts was a Snuggie.










Darrell set up some race cars in the family room, that was fun.



Razor scooters were the big hit with all 5 ambulatory grandkids. They took them out right after we ate our Christmas brunch.
Later, as Aubrey and her girls were packing up their things to leave, 4 yr old Whitney asked, "Mom, can I ride my scooter all the way home?" Aubrey laughed hard over that, it's about 20 miles.

Favorite quotes from Christmas and a few days before: Dani said it was nice waking to the smell of bacon cooking, it reminds her of my dad's house - I find that a great compliment somehow. I suppose it's not so much a complement to me, it's actually a way of expressing great memories of staying at my parents' house. We LOVE my dad's great breakfasts!

While dressing, Chelsea said to Dani, "Great, now we are going to smell like bacon at Church." "Yeah, doesn't it smell great! Mom started cooking early. You know, I bet if we'd had some Bacon Perfume, we'd be married by now!"

The grandkids have a game. "Jonah, we are going upstairs to play Lazy Teenagers... what do you want to be? "
As he followed them upstairs he said, "I'm the oldest brother!" We think it's basically the 'Family' game they always play, but they've renamed it for some reason.... we aren't sure where Lazy Teenagers came from; anyone out there know?

Me, while trying to use my Cutco scissors to cut something awkward,
"Yikes! Ow, ow, OW! I cut my finger!!"
Jemma asked calmly, "Off?"
(luckily I was wrong, it was just a pinch.

Jemma and Brenda had a girl night, and watched The Sound of Music all the way through. Jemma asked about the naughties. "Oh, you mean the nazis? Yes they were very bad. " "Well, what did the Naughties do that was so naughty?" Brenda gave up, she wasn't going to explain all the atrocities the Nazis did that made them naughty.

As brunch ended, we were groaning that we'd eaten so much... We always celebrate Jim's birthday (the 24th) with a big dinner. Then we do even more feasting Christmas morning. We were definitely stuffed!
One of the girls suggested they do some sort of juice cleanse in the coming weeks, and I threw out there that I was having a 'medically induced' cleanse myself.
I told them, "And when the doc said, 'We are scheduling appointments for January', I was like, "That would be just PERFECT after all the holiday food."
So Dani cracked up the whole table when she added,
"And Doc, don't judge me for what you find in there."

Decorating the Yard

When we first moved here to AZ from Massachusetts a decade ago, we were 1) NOT really feeling all the Christmas spirit due to the fact it was NOT COLD enough to be Christmas! And 2) we were further put off by the daffy decorations in front yards. We had moved from a lovely street where virtually every house decorated in white lights and icicles, which reflected angelically in the snow. We were missing the snow and icicles.

The first lawn decoration we saw down the street was a plastic blow-up cactus with these fake red and green lights strewn on it. We were NOT impressed. Next we saw a few houses down a big Winnie the Pooh - obviously an integral character to the Christmas story. (The following year, Tigger joined his friend Pooh bear.) Snoopy and the Peanuts gang seem to be another popular group, but we still haven't figured out just how they fit into the Nativity.



Year after year we've seen all the different plastic blow-up toys, you've all seen them too. And some yards are tastefully decorated with lights, while others are CRAMMED with displays in Disney-like proportions. (Yes, that IS the USS Enterprise.)



Just the other day I drove past this one, Santa sitting in an outhouse. A full-sized, inflated OUTHOUSE, and Santa is in there hoping for a little privacy, and the door swings open and shut. This TOTALLY brings out such warm, Yuletide feelings now, doesn't it?
Perhaps this is how some people feel when it all gets really crazy












This last one needs no explanation.... for actually, I have no words. My neighbor saw it in Phoenix and just had to snap a pic. It's apparently a decorated palm tree gone wrong.

Very wrong.

"The Bees are back in town"

Today a beekeeper came to my house to take care of a bee infestation in our wall. It's the second time bees have taken up residence in the hollow wall of our entranceway. One can't just spray up some Raid to kill the little buggers, it has to be done by a professional, and that would be Kevin. He poked around first looking for where the hive/honeycomb could be, but didn't find anything really. We are guessing they only just started, they may not even have a hive in there per se, just hiding out for now, keeping warm.
I was sad they had to die. He said when he can, he saves them. He keeps hives on farms and in his backyard - in Gilbert it's legal to have a hive right on your lot! But this new little family found the wrong place to take up residence.

Kevin, and our mutual friend, Chris, sell their raw honey, too. Raw honey has it ALL OVER the honey sold in the grocery stores. It is chock-full of healthy goodness - my friend, who is diabetic, had a horrible sore on his leg that just refused to heal for MANY months, despite plenty of attention by the medical community. Finally a naturopath had him put raw honey from Australia on it. He and his wife saw results the very next day, and it healed right up.

Read more about its wonderful benefits here
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/raw-honey.html

Tis the Season

Okay, so last week I started getting out my Christmas boxes and began decking the halls. The stockings are all hanging down the stair railing.
The tree is getting put up today (we can't all be the Russon family, getting theirs up and trimmed while they were pretty much still digging in to Thanksgiving pies.)
I had started early getting out the nativities, since we had a wonderful RS dinner and there were SO MANY awesome nativities on display there!! (serious creche envy on my part.)
And so now I'm putting the many nativities around the house - I think I have like 3 dozen currently - I realized there a couple that simply just stay wrapped up, I don't think they're worth getting out.

They'd most likely make it to this gem of a blog about the WORST nativities. (Yes, those are S'mores in that nativity.) I laughed really hard at the Zombie one, and nearly puked over the MEAT nativity. No kidding! They made it entirely out of meat and it's sitting in the roaster, ready to pop into the oven. *shudder*

You people just have to see for yourself, because most of these are NOT jokes, they are commercial endeavors and made by sincere (albeit possibly twisted,) folks out to make a buck. Go look. Worst Nativities

But first, a pic of a couple of OUR favorite nativities; The nesting dolls were the best Aubrey could find to bring me back from her mission in Russia, we all treasure them (and Nana reluctantly lets little hands play a little with them.) Дeд Mopoz (Deeyed Morroze) and Снегоричка (Sneg Orzhka), who are Grandfather Frost and the Snow Princess, and a little pine tree to complete the trio.

In front of them is our littlest nativity, it's really tiny and the little kiddos just have so much fun with it every year. (I contend every home should have at least one hands-on nativity for the toddlers - although I crack up when I find barbies and star wars action figures in among the shepherds.)

So Happy Christmas everyone!

Love in a Cup

I know they say Money can't buy Happiness, but I've found it does buy this, Hot cocoa!! I am glad it finally got cold enough to have some. I'd have it night and morning if I could get away with it calorically.


Tonight it was Stephen's mint. In the cupboard there are also some flavors of Land o Lakes - like caramel, Irish mint, and raspberry. Rumor has it even Santa deals in hot cocoa (when his assistant runs across a good sale.)




So while the Beatles made a lot of money singing "Can't Buy Me Love", I'm pretty certain that's 'cus they drank tea and never had some luscious cocoa smothered in real whipped cream... basically LOVE in a cup!

Top Ten

Ten Reasons why Monday was a wonderful day.

I received a book in the mail that I am SO eager to read... Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I provided several photos to be shown in a university class presentation, (but I can't tell you what topic, that would be too embarassing.)

I made another batch of really awesome whole wheat rolls, to go with equally good turkey soup for dinner.

I successfully repaired Dani's jeans zipper so that it is BETTER than new.

I finally started cleaning the garage doors, in prep for painting on Tuesday.

I made reservations for an upcoming trip.

I made a long-needed doctor appointment, which I've been putting off for WAY too long. (I really hate making appointments, especially when it will be for something as thrilling as this Dave Barry's funny Colonoscopy )

I begged our good friend Nichole to trim Danielle's hair, which she was more than happy to do.

Girls' night out at the movies - Dani, Chelsea and I saw Tower Heist, which was pretty funny.

And the top ten reason Monday turned out to be a awesome day...

I FOUND our MISSING PHONE!!! Yay me... yes, I literally shouted when I found it.

A Jumping Good Time

Thanksgiving was fun this year - it had all the right elements: yummy foods, several pies, and the best part.... all four daughters home. And my number one son, too. They played a new game called Ticket to Ride while the 5 oldest kiddos and I started making up their sleepover bed in the bonus room. Then in the morning after breakfast of scrambled eggs and pie (the feasting can't be contained to just the one day!) I took the grandkids to the park.

But first thing this morning, even before breakfast, they were busy with their new game.

Just so we're clear, I'm usually not so very cavalier about my grandkids' safety - I don't let them romp unsupervised around the pool, they can't run with knives nor play with matches. Basically I let them have fun doing anything that won't produce severed limbs. (altho we did raise our voices last night when this huge yoga exercise ball came bouncing down the stairs straight into the kitchen and knocked several things off of the countertops.)

So when they invented this game, I didn't go intervene, even tho it entailed some slightly dangerous elements.

Here is how it it went. The five of them lined up on the stairs and took a turn jumping off a step onto the little trampoline, which was sitting in the entry way. The TILED entry way. This morning when I discovered what they were doing, I took a little pause at this for that reason, but we dragged over the big rug so there would at least be a semblance of safety.

Then I did what any concerned Nana would do in this situation.... I lay down on the living room floor and started taking photos!!

These kids got some serious air, it was so fun to watch! This is Courtney as she flew toward me. And Jonah

And lastly, little Whitney, who apparently turns into a vampire as she flies through the air!

Bread, Glorious Bread!

I adore bread! I love making it, different types of loaves, and all the different incarnations one can make with the dough. Mmmm.

Anyone who has baked bread has at one time or another had an epic fail. (see photo at left.) We usually refer to the end product as a BRICK. Many bricks have occurred in the Reeder kitchen over the years as I've tried to make 100% whole wheat loaves. More than once that has happened because the baker simply forgot some key ingredient, like the yeast. Or, like the other day, I added too much liquid and the dough rose WAY too much and overflowed and made for a yeasty industrial spill that took over an hour to clean up properly.

But I've persevered. Obviously professional bakers can make a really decent product, we've all had great whole wheat bread, it's doable.
I have a bread machine to make the experimenting much easier. I LOVE this machine. You put in your ingredients late at night, punch a few buttons and set the timer for when you want it ready in the morning, and VOILA'! You can wake to the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread wafting up from the kitchen. Or your dough is ready to roll out for some hot cinnamon rolls. (There is nothing magical about how it does this, it simply saves you kneading time, it does it for you.)
So I have been trying for quite some time to make wheat bread or rolls that were light and tasty, not dense and leaden. (We've had great success with half ww flour and half white flour, but thus far the true whole wheat products have produced only so-so results.)

Well, on Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011, I DID IT! I found a combination that created rolls SO GOOD, I literally drove around the neighborhood, sharing with friends. The world needed to know this could be accomplished! Well, my fellow bread lovers, anyway. They tolerated my exuberance with kindly pats on the shoulder, "That's nice, Robin."

So here's my recipe.

1.5 cups each white wheat and red whole wheat flours (I grind these myself)
1 heaping Tab gluten and 1 tsp or so of Dough enhancer
(these two are critical to this accomplishment, I believe)
about 1 tsp salt, 2 Tab butter (oil if you want)
1 egg; about 1.5 Tab honey (could be more if you want)

1/2 cup each milk and water. I put a little honey in the cup, added the liquid and warmed in the micro. Then I put in 1 Tab of yeast and stirred. This awakens the yeast and jumpstarts the process.
I also added a tiny more yeast to the machine. Then I added another ounce of water, too.

I let the yeast warm in the milk a few minutes, then poured it over the flour in the machine.

I put the machine on Whole Wheat (a setting that is an hour longer - I think it kneads it longer and also lets it rest more.) About 3 hours later the dough had risen to a perfect mounded loaf. I punched it down and made rolls out of it and let them rise in a warm oven for an hour or so.

I baked them at 350 for 17 minutes (the bagettes were done) turned off the oven and left the other rolls a few minutes more. Then when I pulled them out, I put a little butter over their tops and covered with a towel.

They were tender, light, tasty... I was in heaven, I tell ya! I made a big pot of Minestrone for dinner to go along with them.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think white bread it the ultimate treat. And we will still have the half and half kind, not everyone wants a whole wheat bread. But it's good to know it CAN be done.
Cross that one off my bucket list.

Guilt-free Chocolate

Did you know? Cortez introduced chocolate to Spain in 1519. Before that, the Aztecs made a bitter drink from cocoa beans, I suppose a little like coffee. Today it's the world's favorite confection and mood enhancer.

This Halloween you can feel a little less guilty as you consume those chocolate treats!
Here are some reasons why:

This morning the news lady told us that they've found that we are indeed what we eat. A recent study showed that "chocolate eaters are more likely to volunteer and help those in need, compared to people who ate crackers." Well, DUH!

Chocolate also helps prevent cavities!! This is due to the benefits of tannic acid or tannins found in a variety of food like chocolate. Tannins are naturally occurring Polyphenols and prevent cavities. Polyphenols are what make wine and many other fruits astringent and make variety of flowers and autumn leaves colorful. Polyphenols also cause precipitation of proteins. What that means is that it prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth. (so maybe a Dove dark chocolate bite before bed is basically GOOD for me?!)

Read more: Chocolate helps prevent cavities

Chocolate lovers have less strokes.

Chocolate Lovers have Less Strokes


There is a downside, in that the cocoa trade is very controversial, even involving child slavery. They are now pushing the big chocolate companies to make sure they are buying their ingrdedients from suppliers who do NOT use such practices. You can do your part by purchasing a chocolate product that is 'Fair Trade certified.'

The Bitter Truth

All in all, it's a fascinating food. Learn more if like -
History of Chocolate

Ode to Cannoli

If you've ever lived near Boston, or had the opportunity to tour the city, you most likely have been to the North End... and you are salivating about now.



Besides having just about the BEST Italian food to be found outside of a Mediterranean nation, one can find there this icon of Massachusetts, Mike's Pastry.

Truly, people come from all over to visit. When anyone asks what's good to do or see in Boston, Mike's is right at the top of the list.

I'd forgotten how tasty ANYTHING from Mike's could be, but then my darling daughter flew over 2000 miles to bring me back a treat or two.... isn't she so sweet!! She asked us all what we would like from her trip to Beantown. And while her sisters waxed practical and asked for T-shirts and BoSox hats, I went right for the calories!

She was so kind, she brought back a cannolo for EACH of us. And Mike's aren't measly, skinny shells with a little cheesy filling. NO! These hefty delights are BIG and HEAVY!

"Mom, I couldn't pack the Cannolis in the suitcase. My bag was too heavy and I ended up taking them out so it could make weight!"


Just as well, these babies deserve careful handling anyway. They survived the flight home and we divvied up the spoils so we could all have tastes of the different kinds - Florentine, Almond, chocolate chip... We were in heaven.

Here's what makes 'em so good:


Anatomy of a Mikes Cannolo

Magnificent Bird

I grew up in California and my dad loved to collect interesting animals. We had a bobcat for a couple of years, and he was always catching snakes and tarantulas where he worked. And we had a hawk for a while, a Red-tailed hawk even.


So it's been fun seeing one around our streets occasionally. I've not gotten really close until the other day, and the photo here was taken by someone else and I've swiped it off the internet. (The one taken by cellphone is just too small to be post-worthy.) And really, I can't be certain what kind of hawk it was, except it's fairly large and colored much like the one in the photo.



Yesterday during our morning walk, the hawk WAS very close. Nichole and I stopped on the corner ready to part ways, and looked up and there he was on the street light, surveying the yards and golf course. One mile away are a few scrubby fields, I'm sure I've seen him over there, so I was surprised he's hanging out in our 'burbs where dogs and cats far outnumber the little rodents one would think a hawk would be hunting.



While Nichole and I were gaping at him, wondering how big he really was, and how large his wingspan might be, he took off behind a house, chasing some birds. A second later the birds and he came up over the roof and he landed on a lampost nearly right over our heads!! It was so impressive, we got to see his full wingspan! He sat there, eyeing 6 Grackles that were sitting across the street on a matching street light.... they seemed to be nervously watching him. Just then a woodpecker came near, circling the hawk up high on that perch. And sort of screeching at him as he flew a full circle around him, maybe only 6 feet away! We have several woodpeckers (we see them pecking away at the stupidest things like stucco walls, metal lampposts and house vents) so maybe this one was asserting his territory toward the larger bird. (Good luck with THAT!)




Anyway, just as we realized Nichole had her phone and could actually take a decent photo, he swooped off after the grackles and they all flew away out of view.




Impressive sight! We were up close and personal with such a beautiful bird. I'm not 100% certain he is a red-tailed, I didn't pay attention to the tail to see.



And I hope he stays around. Perhaps between him (or her) and the large resident owl we've seen around, the roof-rat population will be kept in check. I don't want THAT kind of visitor again!

Advice Cookies

Saturday night we got Chinese food... well, *I* went out and brought it home. Jim's still limping around and didn't want to do any more walking. So dinner and a movie became take-out and a couple episodes of 'Fringe', which we rent from My Fliks.


And of course, in the bag I found a crunchy treat for dessert.


I quickly ate it and then eagerly looked to see my fortune.


Would I meet a handsome stranger?


Would I embark on a new career that I would find immensly rewarding?


Would I come into some very welcome financial prosperity?




My hands trembled in anticipation as I turned over the tiny paper:














What? ADVICE? No peek into my future to see what wonderful adventures await, instead I got someone telling me how to live my life. (and I'm not certain it actually makes any sense.)

I felt like Ralphie excitedly decoding his spy ring message, only to be deflated when he reads it:

"What was Little Orphan Annie trying to tell me?"
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. "Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!"

How's th' Weathah?

Okay, on Monday it was still QUITE HOT here. I laughed when I went into the bank and they had to have hot mitts on their west-facing doors.

And then 3 days later Fall finally fell.

We got some storm activity... heavy winds, spotty but heavy-duty rain, it was so fun to finally get some real precipitation!

And apparently I missed THIS:

And then today they had snow up in the mountains, more tomorrow.

It really is lovely to finally get to have COOL weather in the mornings and not have baking afternoons. Talk is we are out of the triple-digits temps at long last.

On Tuesday Beth looked up at the clouds and said, "Wow, it's going to be winter soon!"

Heheh, it won't be quite as soon as she imagines, but anything cooler than our loooonnng, hellish summer will be most welcome.

Eternity

Das Boot

Okay, I know that Das Boot actually means The Boat, but since this thing Reeder is wearing now is almost the SIZE of a boat.... well, I think it's close enough.

He tore his Fascia last week. He hobbled around over the weekend and then went to the foot doctor to find out what it was. Now he hobbles around in this huge, heavy contraption - these things are way beyond the little soft plastic, pump-up kinds they used to have you wear. At least his is.

The first time I saw it was when he hoisted it up next to me on the couch - it looked like something Herman Munster would clunk around in, chasing Lily for a little kiss.

It has a metal bar that runs up the back of his calf.
I weighed the other day, while he was sleeping, and it weighs 3 lbs!

And then there are the velcro straps! The first night he came to bed after I was asleep and I woke to the most awful SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH... It was him undoing the Velcro straps. There are SEVEN of them. (either I'm getting used to the cacophony of his undressing, or else he's found a quieter way to do it. I still hear it, but I can go back to sleep. Well, most nights. Obviously one of those nights it annoyed me enough, I COUNTED how many ripping screeches I heard!)

He said it's helping, his foot feels better. It prevents him from bending his foot at all, letting the fascia heal. Oh, or I could say heel heal. (if it was a really painful process, could you say 'heel healing hell?')

A Major Award

"Fra-JEE-lay! Huh; must be Italian!"

That is what Brenda and I heard from the other room today as I massaged her shoulders.

Jim was in the living room, unpacking a gift I'd bought yesterday.
I called out to him, "It's a MAJOR AWARD!"

And then Brenda continued the dialogue.

"Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window"

But this major award wasn't at all as interesting as a leg-lamp, it was only a new office chair. Jim had finally relented to our spending the money to get him a really good one, since he spent so much time in his office. And I surprised him yesterday with one I'd found at Costco.

And now he was saying, "OH, 'Do not tighten screws completely' Couldn't they have told me on that last step BEFORE I tightened them all the way?"

As he was loosening the screws, we realized he'd put the armrests on backwards; good thing I'd stopped him before he got very far. As he was having to unscrew the 4 screws, I tried not to sound too mocking as I restated, "Be sure not to tighten the screws completely."

I bet he was really appreciating my help about now.

I did eventually prove somewhat useful and we got the back on and it finally looked like a chair. A comfy, lumbar-supporting, "Approved by the American Chiropractic Association" chair.

However, he'd not sat in it yet. At least when I found it at Costco, I could give it a test-run. I was a little nervous he wouldn't like it after 90 minutes of assembly. (I wasn't risking much by bringing it home, Costco has such an awesome return policy.)

Hurray, he likes it! And at an excellent price, about a quarter of what we expected we'd have to pay for a decent office chair.

Riddle me a Riddle

Danielle knows I like a good logic problem, so she sent this poser my way tonight.

There are 3 men in a dark room full of hats. Two of the hats are red, and all the rest are black. The men enter the room in the dark, put on a hat, and then the lights are turned on.

The first man looks at the other two and states,
"I see what you two are wearing, but I don't know which color hat I am wearing."

The second fellow looks at the others and says the same thing,
"I see what you two are wearing, but I don't know which color hat I am wearing."

The third man, who is blind, says,
"I cannot see what you two fellows are wearing, but I know what color *I* am wearing."

So, what color hat is the blind man wearing?

In the House of Stone and Light

I was privileged to go to the temple today.

The Mesa temple is an old building, with few windows, and thick walls that shut out the noise of the street. One can leave all discord at the door. Everyone speaks in hushed tones, and we all change into white clothes, to represent purity. Our common clothing hides any class distinctions and we are all just brothers and sisters there, children of God.

Shedding the outside world like that makes it easier to feel the peace inside, and when in the proper frame of mind, to really receive inspiration. And it reminds us that that we are expected to be quiet and listen in order to hear.

1st Kings 19: 11-12 And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still, small voice.

Attending the temple is kind of like entering a mineral spring for the soul.
It seems to have Spiritual restorative powers for the truly humble.

The rites and rituals performed in the Temple all point to Jesus Christ, reminding us we need to be seeking him and serving him, and striving to be better Christians.

I know this song, In the House of Stone and Light, wasn't written about Christ, nor a temple, but many of the lyrics certainly make one think of going there. Martin Page wrote this while staying in the Grand Canyon. You get the sense of his yearning to shed the past, to be reborn, to hear what God could teach him if he'd become a child again and open to learning.

Some of the lyrics:

"O Mount Kailas uncover me
Come my restoration
Wash my body clean
I've been walking
Along a crooked path
Where the walls have fallen
And broken me in half
I'm telling you
I will not rest till I lay down my head
I'm gonna go
In the house of stone and light
I shall not cry for the blindman I leave behind
When I go In the house of stone and light

Old man waiting at the gates for me
Give me the wisdom, Give me the key
I make my way, O gonna be such a beautiful day
In the house of stone and light"

If you've never heard it, here is a link to listen - it's a youtube vid, the only recording I could find to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIa9UEXd98Q

"I must go there, to find my soul there..."

Fat vs Lean, or Ode to the Mighty Calorie

My friend and I live a few streets apart and most mornings meet in the middle of the neighborhood, usually right around 6:30, walking about 45 minutes, winding through the streets.
This morning's walk was just lovely, we had many clouds, it was below 80, (YAY, I think we get to start opening our windows at night again!) and there was a wonderful breeze. (We usually have to plan our route to find as much shade as possible - not everyone can be Shawna Jones and go out at 4 am to truly beat the heat!)

But if you had seen us out walking this morning, you might have thought it pitiful - we both were carrying FOOD as we walked! As I approached Nichole, I laughed as I realized that besides a bottle of water, she was carrying a little plate, some goodie for me to try. Because in MY hands I also had a bottle of water, and a baggie with 3 homemade rolls.

She and I keep experimenting with wheat recipes.... how much wheat flour in conjunction with all-purpose flour? How much Gluten should we add to bread and rolls? So we keep adjusting, and then sharing our finished products.
She brought me some very fresh pancakes she'd just made for her men's breakfast - pure whole wheat, but you whip up the egg whites to give them lightness. It's a recipe she got from Helen Butler, a former neighbor. And as we walked, I HAD to nibble and taste. YUM! No syrup, but she'd put a little butter on them, just like I like them.

And she plucked tastes out of the baggy of rolls; last night I'd made whole wheat rolls to go with soup for dinner, and I'd used 2 cups ground red wheat flour, and 1 cup all purpose flour, along with dough conditioner and some gluten she'd given me. These were savory, with herbs and garlic and parmesan cheese. I was really pleased with how they turned out.

At the end of our walk we compared recipe notes before departing, and some golfers drove by... and I'm pretty sure they were thinking, "What, they can't manage a morning walk without sustenance?"

So we walk every day to stay in shape and hopefully keep our weight in check - eating while doing so would seem counter intuitive... calories going in while calories are expended sort of defeats the purpose, right?

23 yrs ago a med student said to me, "If you just cut out 2 cookies a day, you would lose 2 pounds a month," something logical like that (according the math,) but so illogical 'cus we have too many things in our body's metabolism that will make this work or fail. Are we sick, or sedentary this week? Do we have a lot on our plate and super stressed and going here and there in a dither? I know a (thin) man that just plain burns calories like crazy, his speed is always a little faster than everyone else and he just never really relaxes. I had one friend who couldn't eat while stressed, but her husband handled it the opposite, he ate way more when really under stress.

It appears some people just are more efficient at burning calories, on top of the other components like what kind of calories we're ingesting. Why is it you can eat a lot of meat and fat and leave out carbs, and yet still lose weight? Does food mixing really effect this process? It would seem so. And what about eating 5 small meals thru the day? They say that also keeps the metabolism up and running a little 'faster,' and therefore you effectively burn more fat.

So they say.

And then after my walk this morning, in my email I received, (as part of a daily digest discussing weight-maintenance,) this discussion of just how many calories really are in fat and protein.

Tracy said: //I just read in my Livestrong.com newsletter that science is now
discovering that one pound of fat is not necessarily 3500 calories, as we
all have been taught//

Jessie's answer (Jessie is a nurse, and other things too. She has like 40 letters after her name when you add up all her little titles and degrees. She's worked with doctors in helping people manage their weight loss through a variety of ways, including surgery.)

"That hasn't made any sense for a long time. A pound is 454 grams (453.59237 to be exact).
If fat is 9 calories per gram then a pound of fat is 4,086 calories.
If protein and carbohydrates are 4 calories per gram then a pound of protein or CHO is 2,180 calories - so why do they say you have to eat 3500 calories more or less to gain or lose a pound?
It's never made sense to me. I've been doing those calorie calculations and basal metabolic rate
estimates for over 20 years and the only consistency is that it never adds up.

As you point out, the control of appetite, food intake, weight, satiety, and
body composition is way more complicated than any of the current explanations. "

I'll leave you with this fascinating article to read - it is about some starvation experiments done with people, to see how they handled having very few calories - but one group was allowed mostly carbs, and the other allowed 3 times the fat calories.
Why a calorie isn't always a calorie

And then hopefully in a subsequent post, I'll find the video Nichole once watched in Japan where they stuffed people with their favorite foods, they were SO FULL. But then they announced they could have some of their favorite dessert if they wished. Their stomachs literally PUSHED the food through a bit, to make room for dessert! They have it on x-ray, they played it over and over again... the stomach made room for the treats! Seriously?
That would be my stomach. I like food far too much.

Once Upon a Smell

Once upon a time there was a man who smelled.

And he didn't smell like after-shave, he didn't have a hunky, masculine, worked-out-at-the-gym sweaty smell; he smelled BAD. Not all the time, but it was definitely there sometimes.

And his wife was WORRIED!!

This was not a normal smell at all, but a very bad and suspicious smell for a human to have.
And the man's wife worried even more.

But she didn't say anything to him. For a couple of weeks she noticed it off and on and she kept her thoughts to herself, wondering if maybe she was mistaken about it being the man himself. But the weird smell was still there, and she was really getting worried that perhaps he was very sick somehow, and that is why he was giving off this very unnatural smell. A bad sickness causing a bad smell... that is what she was fearing.

She hugged him and could smell it. She smelled it often when they were in the car together. And still she kept her thoughts to herself, pondering and worrying.

Finally after a few weeks of this, she determined she had to say something to her
husband about it. Their kids were in bed, they were watching TV and he was sitting in front of her taking off his shirt to have her scratch his back, a nightly ritual.


She gingerly broached the subject.


"Um, I've got to tell you something. I've noticed this weird smell on you. And it worries me, it is really a bad smell." She sniffed at his neck, down his back. It was still there.

His answered relieved her.


"Well, actually, I have, too! I smelled something weird lately; in fact..."

He jumped up suddenly and pulled off his belt, and commenced smelling it.

"This is IT! It's this new belt! THIS is where the smell is coming from!"

She took a whiff, and sure enough, there it was, a really strong skunk-like smell. Very NASTY smelling indeed!


The man said, "I thought I had smelled something recently, I didn't really figure out what it was until just now."

Sighing with great relief that her husband wasn't dying of some undiagnosed cancer, the woman promised to return the belt the very next day.


So that is why you may have seen her, the woman in the belt section at Kohl's, smelling all the belts as she hunted for her husband's size, getting odd looks from the other shoppers.




There's a method to her madness, be assured.

Ratatoullie, the Final Chapter

I was told that at girls' camp this summer, a few of the young ladies were quite freaked out by all the bugs. (They're up in the woods, what'd they expect?) Even when having a wonderfully spiritual fireside testimony meeting, one or two couldn't help but shriek when a insect came their way.

To help with the situation, to make the ladies feel safer, one of the older girls was quick to step on the invaders, to hopefully keep a more peaceful atmosphere.
But that didn't make Kara happy, it pierces her heart to see any creature killed, even the bugs. So, what brought a feeling of safety to some was bringing pain to another. For the most part, we are usually all quite afraid of small invaders.

Why is it we do that? I remember being terrified of spiders when little, waking my dad when I was 7 with my cries in the middle of the night so that he had to come into the bathroom and kill a scary spider.

Now my arachnophobia is greatly diminished, and if I am able, I'll capture the critter and carry him outside to find more food than he'd catch inside my house.

I am NOT so generous with scorpions. Those are dispatched with great alacrity; And I've watched enough movies to know that if I turn away for even a second, the Monster will somehow disappear from view! So after quelling my desire to run the other way, I grab the biggest nearby weapon I can find and - PETA be damned - I just whack away at it! (I believe their recommendation is catch and release.) I do run the risk of it being a momma with a hundred microscopic babies living on her back, but that kind of reasoning flies out the window when faced with something that somehow represents SURE DEATH as it is meandering across my family room carpet.

My friend Donna in TX reports that her kitty has alerted her several times to a scorpion in the house. That would be so helpful. We see them maybe once or twice a month. (And I shudder to think of the ones we are NOT seeing.)

So that brings me back to having a yucky roof rat living in my garage. He had ample opportunity to leave, to go find food and water elsewhere. But he chose to settle in, and we just couldn't allow it. They can carry disease, they chew through walls, even. He had to go.

I won't go into the details of his death, but it pained me to do it. Our fellow creatures on this planet deserve our respect, (and it didn't help that we've had rats for pets and know they can be very smart and very clean animals.) But I've always drawn the line with the creatures that invade my space, *I* hold dominion over my home, and this one just couldn't be scooped into a glass and carried out to a bush. He, or SHE, is one of millions that are overrunning the valley here, loving all the citrus trees especially.
Big, gray roof rats

are true vermin.

R.I.P. Remy.

Ratatouille Two

After discovering a rodent had mistaken our garage for the Vermin B n B,
( Yesterdaday's post ) Monday morning I went to clean out the rodent droppings. Sweeping seemed like it would take a long time, so I figured out how to work the leaf blower and proceeded clearing all the dust and dry leaves and rat poop out of my garage. I assume that THAT will be how I know if there is still a rat out there, if we once again see droppings. Gross.
As I was literally closing the door and envisioning a long shower to get all the garage dust out of my hair, I remembered Jim wanted the leaves blown out of the yard.
How hard could that be? So I hooked up a longer extension cord and started on the walkway at the front door. Man, that blower is powerful! But I got the hang of it, blowing the leaves out closer to the street... then I went over to right side, blowing some more, but then those leaves didn't just fly toward the street like I'd planned, some are back over on the walkway. Hmmmm, this was more like work, it took longer than I thought. Back and forth across the yard, inching forward.
And then I realized I was creating a pile out there on the sidewalk; Who's gonna pick THAT up?? We have a green barrell for recycling yard waste, but they don't make giant dustpans for transferring TO said barrell.
I remembered then that there was this cloth bag you could suck the leaves into.
Once I found that, I had to figure out how to make my blower a 'sucker' instead. I went inside and got Reeder, and we both looked at the machine; we couldn't get the large plastic tube (I'd found it hiding behind some shelves,) to attach. He was on the phone anyway with his sister, Rose, so he gave up and went back into the house, and I went back to my pile of leaves. After just the 2nd dirty handful, I KNEW this was work. I should be inside drinking lemonade and being straw boss to some scout who'd gladly do it all for 10 bucks. I determined I'd try again with that blower. I sized it up again and found there was a ring that pops out to allow room for the larger tube. NOW I can suck up the leaves! Way faster than bending and scooping over and over. So I went out and vacuumed my yard and the street, careful not to pick up rocks or big sticks.

As I was putting it back in the garage, I spied this cool branch trimmer hanging on the wall. Its long yellow handle and spring and sharpness were all too inviting. I looked over at my shaggy Charlie Brown tree and surmised Charlie needs a trim! I just wanted an excuse to hoist another sharp yard tool. This one is fun, you reach up high and hook the curved metal over a branch, then jerking downward hard brings up a blade that neatly severs the limb. (which then MIGHT come crashing down on your head... not that that would ever happen to me.) I started cutting (avoiding a nest I could see up there.) Reach, cut. Reach, cut.
Several jerks later, I was asea in green branches and forced myself to stop, knowing my recycle bin only holds so much. So I carried an armload over to the barrell, and began cutting the long branches to fit inside.


That's when I spied him, a pale green praying Mantis!
I hadn't seen one since moving from Mass, he was so cute!
"Wait!" I said to him, "don't crawl down into the barrell!"
I cut a little twig off and carefully coaxed him onto it. Then holding it close to my chest, I walked back around to Charlie Brown. I pulled down a branch and let the little guy climb up onto its leaves. He quickly began his assent back home, despite my requests he pause for a photo-op. Luckily my phone was in my pocket!
(He's the little white 'stick' near the top of the photo.)


I now could go shower in peace, knowing I'd saved a life. Maybe two, if the rat had the sense to leave my garage.

I haven't checked, I'll do that now and report back.



ARGGHH!! He is NOT gone, and he left a calling card. At my door!!

I opened the door from the laundry room into the garage, so I could check the corners for some evidence, some vermin feces....

"Oh, look, You've got mail!"
I see some letters I'd dropped as I came in last night; I thought I'd picked them all up, but must've missed these.