Srong People

Do you know some strong people? I'm not talking muscle strength. I'm talking emotionally strong. They're often perceived as a person who is never down, always has the answers, compassionate, willing to help... you get the picture. It's that person that you go to when you are so overwhelmed with your problems you just can't handle it. I know one or two myself - in fact, they are in my family.

Do you want to know their secret?

They don't share their drama with everyone. They keep to themselves until someone needs their help. They're reliable that way. But guess what - they have just as many problems as you do. They also have to deal with all the issues that life insists we endure. So do them a favor. Call them for a change to say thanks or offer your help or just to talk about things in general. They need cheering up too!

Elderberry Topped Pineapple Cake

I created this cake today with a little inspiration from an online cake recipe sensation. You know the one where you mix crushed pineapple with an Angel Food cake mix and presto, chango you have cake! I was intending to follow that recipe, but I bought a regular cake mix by mistake so I had to come up with something else. It was so, so yummy I just had to share it.

Elderberry Topped Pineapple Cake

-by Debra Campbell

Cake:

1 White or Yellow Cake Mix

1 15-oz can Crushed Pineapple

1 egg

¼ c chopped walnuts or pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. (325 degrees for dark pan.) Combine egg, pineapple with juice; add cake mix and nuts. Mix well. Pour into a 9x13 inch cake pan. (Grease bottom of the pan.) Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool then poke holes every few inches with the handle of a wooden spoon.

Topping:

3 c elderberries

1 c honey

3 T Clear Jel (Cook type)

¼ t salt

½ t cinnamon

1 T butter

3 T lemon juice

1 t vanilla

Add above ingredients except elderberries and vanilla to a non-stick sauce pan. Cook over low heat until combined. Add elderberries and cook to just boiling stirring often. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir well. Pour over cake and spread evenly.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or top with whipped topping.

What Should I Write About??

I like to write. I want to write. I want to get good at writing. That means I need to practice writing since practice makes perfect.

I have several story ideas cooking in my head, but those are not for a blog. However, blogging is a great writing exercise. Maybe I'll just write about my day.

Let me start by saying, my mother-in-law loves to gamble in the form of playing slot machines. A few months ago she talked my husband into becoming a premier member at the Tachi Palace in Lemoore which is about 45 minutes away from our house. As a premier member and because they have spent a little money on the slot machines, they get a weekly prize. They just have to drive over, show their identification and pick it up. One month it was different ice chest type items such as a water cooler, a six pack cooler, etc. Then they received tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers. The most recent prizes have been stoneware baking items and casserole dishes. I love them!

Last week my husband did a little work on my mother-in-law's pickup and so she gave him $40. She wanted me and my hubby to each have $20 to play the slots today. After picking up our stoneware bread pans (this week's prize), we quickly lost our $20; however, my mother-in-law is one of the luckiest ladies I know. She started playing on a certain machine and she was able to play for a long, long time on very little money. Eventually, she cashed out and insisted on giving us each more playing money. Whereas my mother-in-law plays to win the jackpot, I just play to win some money. Thanks to my Fairy Godmother aka mother-in-law, I won a couple hundred dollars. It's enough to pay for gas and groceries so we can go deer hunting.

So after leaving the casino, we went grocery shopping and then came home and prepared to head for the mountains. What a great day! I have a great mother-in-law and I hope you do too.

Yes, I Read... A Lot; So Give Me A Good Review

I didn't start out as an avid reader. In fact, I didn't really start reading extensively until I fell in love with romance novels as a teenager. I babysat for a woman who belonged to some of those book clubs that send you a selection of books each month. This wonderful woman would lend me all her books! It wasn't long before I found myself staying up all hours of the night and even reading until sunrise if the book was really good. My favorite type of book was a good combination romance and mystery.

As the years have gone by I have changed a little in my preferred genres, but not much. I still like a good romance but with a little paranormal or fantasy thrown in for good measure. I still like a good mystery and have even gone for a great thriller. My latest tastes have added historical fiction at times. What I don't read much is non-fiction unless it's about gardening/homesteading.

There are so many great books out there and even at 100 books per year - my current annual goal on Goodreads - I could not hope to read every book I might like before I die.

So what's a girl to do? You've heard "Don't judge a book by its cover."? Yet that is exactly what I used to do. I also chose a book by the  little blurb on the back. It was a rather hit-or-miss method. I would search for books by authors I knew I liked and hope I'd get lucky. These days with the advent of the internet and e-books I can narrow down my choices. (On the flip side, due to a number of books being self-published, there are so many more books to choose from.)

One method I use to pick a book - I judge a book by the price. A good author will be priced at about $7.99 and up with a new release selling for $13.99. That can get expensive. Online libraries help, but they don't have ALL the books I want to read. One of these days I may have to go back to the local library and read a paper book again.

In the meantime, I give a lot of free books a look which means I read the way I eat - I can't afford steak every day either. I've gotten lucky a few times, but usually I have to lower my exacting standards. To keep from wasting too much time on inexpensive or free books, I read reviews. If a book rates less that 3 stars on Goodreads, I don't bother.

Now I'm getting to the main reason I thought of this blog subject - reviews. Do you know the difference between a review and a book report? A book report was an assignment given in school in which you wrote a short description of a book you read as proof you really read the book. Sometimes a sadistic teacher would make you share it in class. A review is stating your opinion of a book. It may contain editorial critiques and how the story affected you. A review is NOT a book report! It is NOT a synopsis! If I want a synopsis of the book, I will refer to the one provided by the author/publisher.

I want to know if a book I'm considering is worth my time. So don't tell me about your terrible day at work or some other unrelated information like your political affiliation. Give me your honest opinion of the book and I'll decide. So keep the reviews coming and I may read a book you recommend.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg (I think she likes long titles.)

Just this morning I finished reading this book by Fannie Flagg. You may not recognize her name, but do you remember a movie titled Fried Green Tomatoes? She wrote the book first titled Fried Green Tomatoes and the Whistle Stop Cafe and then the screen play.

Not only was this story, The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion, an entertaining book, it also got me thinking about a few things.

First of all, the title doesn't do the story justice and seems a little misleading. Yes, the narrative includes a section in which four sisters run a filling station, or as we might call it a gas station, during World War II. But that is just the beginning of this adventure in which women fly planes! And not only do they fly planes, they do it as volunteers to help the war effort. Our country was just recovering from The Great Depression and we were in no position to fight a war so everyone had to pitch in. Most men from the age of 17 to 60 were off fighting so the women had to step up and they did it willingly.

The story includes a great deal of information about the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII) and was really the inspiration for this book. These women were so happy to perform what they saw as a patriotic duty, but they weren't appreciated by very many, especially the men pilots. Apparently, toward the end of the war, the US had all the fighter pilots they needed. This meant that the civilian male flight instructors who had been excused from military service were now eligible for the draft. If they were chosen to serve, they would have to serve as foot soldiers and they didn't like that one bit. So they organized a letter writing campaign to the government insisting that they take over the WASPs' job of ferrying planes from the manufacturers to the air bases. It worked and the WASPs were disbanded. You can check out the statistics here: WASP Statistics It is so sad and embarrassing how the government really let them down and just kind of swept their existence under the carpet (records were sealed and classified). Though a bill had been proposed in Congress that these women would become an official part of the armed services and therefore, receive veterans' benefits, it was shot down. It would be another thirty years before another woman would fly a military plane. (I guess the male ego is a fragile thing.)

Then there's Sookie, the main character, at first she came across as a doormat. She let's her mother Lenore run her life. What I did like about Sookie is although she's 60-years-old, she didn't settle - she picked herself up and moved on. Most books I read have much younger characters who have their whole lives ahead of them and plenty of time to change. Sookie showed me that even at 60 you can discover yourself and grow. Life is not over yet.

Lastly, there's Lenore. Sookie's mother made me think of my wonderful, independent mother-in-law, Irma. No, Irma is not overbearing. But just like Lenore, she's a strong woman, one of the strongest I know. Although she lost her husband of 50 plus years, she is still living life with gusto! She is self-sufficient and yet caring. She's interesting and loves a great joke. She's an independent, classy lady. I love her and I'm lucky to have her in my life. (Her son's pretty great too.)

The best mother-in-law you could hope to have.

So beautiful in red.

I'm thankful to my friend JoAnn for sharing this book on Facebook as it really inspired me.

Plush Scarves

Last year I made 20 - 25 scarves to donate to our local Homeless after being inspired by an online post that featured hanging free scarves around the city in Ottawa, Canada. I wanted to repeat the project this year, but I ran into a few obstacles such as back/shoulder problems, THREE wedding gift afghans, and a few baby-shower gift blankets to make.

I made 4, but knew I would never get 25 done before Christmas. So I came up with an idea when I saw these plush throws at the local Wal-mart for just under $6 each.

Everyone loves the feel of a plush whether it's a stuffed animal, a robe or blanket. These blankets measure 60"x50" and by cutting a blanket into 5 strips measuring 60" long - a good length for a scarf - I could get 5 scarves from each blanket. I originally thought I would double them over and then crochet around the edge creating scarves of double thickness measuring 5"x60". Then I had an inspiration, if I didn't fold them over, a person could wrap the scarf around their shoulders as a wrap or tie over their head to make a hat. I'm always in favor of a multi-purpose item.

So here are a few pics to show how I put together 20 scarves for $24. (My friend purchased the same blankets for $2.88 each on sale. Wow!)

First, pull the binding thread off the edge. Save for some other project or discard.

Fold the 60" length of the blanket in quarters and square up on your cutting mat. Measure 10"wide.

Using the rotary cutter, cut along ruler.

Fold the strip so the 4 corners are together; making sure the sides line up. Then cut the corners so they match.

Now throw them in the dryer on the fluff air setting for about 10 - 20 minutes, because by now everything is covered in fuzz. The air is very dry due to the heater running in my house and these blankets love to get full of static so use some aluminum or wool balls in your dryer.

Crocheting an edge was going to take too long, so I decided to run a zig-zag stitch around the edge instead.

I set my stitch as wide as my machine would go with a fairly long stitch length.

Optional: You could fold the ends up about 5 or 6 inches (as pictured) and stitch up the side creating pockets. What a great way to keep the hands warm while wearing the scarf.

Voila! Now I have 24 scarves total to donate. Once I figured out what I was doing, it took about 1 hour to turn a blanket into 5 scarves.

So don't let a lack of time or money keep you from creating some great scarves to give away. You could get even more scarves per blanket if you were making them child-sized.

Merry Christmas!

Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and Honey are all the rage these days. Apparently they cure EVERYTHING from stomach problems to acne!

Well I don't know about that; but long before they became all the rage of the internet, I came across a book published in 1980 by Dian Dincin Buchman entitled Herbal Medicine, The Natural Way to Get Well and Stay Well. In the book she tells a story of a man who suffered from arthritis in his toe. She recommended he started drinking a combination of 1 t. apple cider vinegar and 1 T. of honey in a glass of water daily. A while later she ran into the gentleman and asked about his arthritis in his toe. He had forgotten about the pain because it was completely gone. He said he would continue this daily routine so it wouldn't come back.

After reading this, I mentioned it to my Mom. She was still quite young, but didn't want to get arthritis so she started drinking the ACV/Honey combination herself. She said she liked the taste and it was very refreshing. In fact, she told me that her dad, who was a farmer, would drink a vinegar water concoction in the summertime to cool off as lemons are expensive in Canada. She's been drinking this mixture for over 30 years now and she has no arthritis while her sister suffers from it a great deal.

Have you ever found yourself so thirsty that drinking water just doesn't seem to help? Personally, I enjoy the combination of ACV and Honey just as a refreshing drink during the summer and mix it up by the quart. I'm not very accurate with the measurements but rather put about 4 T. of ACV and 4 heaping tablespoons of honey in a quart jar and fill it with water. I've also experimented with **Blackberry Vinegar and Red Raspberry Vinegar. These also taste very good. It's like my own "vitamin" water.

So give it a try. Even if you think you don't like vinegar, you might be surprised at the taste. And the benefits are well worth making the consumption of this beverage a daily habit.

**I made the Blackberry Vinegar and Red Raspberry Vinegars last summer by crushing about 1 1/2 cups of fruit in a pint jar then filling the jar with some ACV that still contains the "mother" because it has not been pasteurized. I covered it with a fine cheese cloth to keep the bugs out. After several weeks in the warm weather, the juices from the fruit become vinegar. I pour it through a fine sieve and voila, I have vinegar.