Hold the Dead Bodies

One of my favorite pastimes is reading light fiction, which is sometimes difficult to do while performing any number of tasks in the course of a day. Let's hear it for audio books!

Fortunately, our library has a large selection of audio books. And our librarian is constantly adding to the collection with newly released titles. That's the good news and the bad news. The good news part has to do with the number of audio books available. The bad news has to do with subject matter. Reading the back of an audio book container to get an idea of content I 'm all too often met with the same, "Marjorie and Milton weren't expecting to find a dead body in the honeymoon suite when they entered their room blah, blah, blah." And so I made a request.

"Is it possible to get some audio books without dead bodies in them," I asked our librarian. She told me that someone else is requesting more romance novels. Hers is not an easy life. It seems that publishers give the public what it wants and right now the public wants murder and mayhem. As an example, the other day, while waiting in a check out line, I overheard a young man tell his companion that he only needed a few more kills to reach 10,000. I do believe he was referring to his video game expertise.

But fear not, I have found a few good stories without undue amounts of blood. If you're looking for the same I have some recommendations. I'm in love with any book by Alexander McCall Smith, who's done the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series as well as another series set in the UK. I've recently listened to "Major Pedigrees Last Stand," and many months ago enjoyed "The Elegance of the Hedgehog." And although some of these books would never be classified as great literature, I didn't have to mop up any blood when I finished listening to them.

Do you have a favorite author or series to share? Would love any suggestions.

Earth Day - Give it a Rest

In an attempt to live a more sane life I'm always looking for ways to extricate myself from self-induced madness and my endless to-do list. You know, take time to stop and smell the roses.

Recently I read a suggestion that it might be a good idea, in our hurry and do more world, to go back to the biblical example of a day of rest. I've also heard that there's actually some good science behind the idea of taking time to take time to, you know, smell those roses. I decided to give it a try.

Instead of using Sundays as a day to catch up with my work, I decided to use it as a day to catch up with myself. On Saturday evening before I go to bed I turn off my computer and my cell phone. They stay off until Monday morning. That goes for TV and electronic games of any ilk.

What do I do all day Sunday? I only do things that would not appear on my to-do list. I try to have food prepared ahead or to eat foods that are simple to prepare. I'm going to clean up my bike during the week and have it ready. It's that bike that's been sitting in the basement for the past two years while I keep saying to myself, "I really should get my bike out." I'm planning a field trip to an art museum with my daughter. I don't take the time to see her often enough. And isn't it all about taking the time? Was I waiting for someone to give me the time to do these things?

I'm now starting to get into the rhythm of this Sunday thing, which I admit, had me a bit at loose ends. I felt I should be doing something. Perhaps I've morphed into a "human doing" and it would take some time to get into the mode of a "human being". On the plus side, my Mondays are more productive and I re-enter my work world with renewed energy.

So on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day I'm moved to ask if this could make a difference. What if everyone turned off their computers, cell phones, and the host of other electronic devices that we just can't live without for one day a week? What if we all gave it a rest.

Stoned Bugs

When perusing cute idea sections of magazines I always linger over pictures of painted rocks or stones that people use as accessories for their gardens or as table decorations for garden parties. "We should paint some stones," I would hear myself thinking. The "we" is the Tuesday afternoon group at the senior facility where I volunteer.

The one problem I found with this project is getting the right sized stones, which would involve scrounging through the neighbor's rock garden or the city park in the middle of the night and risk arrest as a stone thief. And so I decided to make my own stones.

Stone Recipe, better known as Play Clay Recipe on the Argo Starch Box:
1 cup Argo laundry starch
2 cups baking soda
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 Tablespoon oil - the recipe recommends Mazola corn oil but I only had olive oil in the house and it worked just fine.

Mix together the starch and baking soda in a medium saucepan. Add the cold water and oil and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Turn the mixture onto a plate and cover with a damp cloth. Refrigerate until it's cool enough to handle. I found that this took about 10 minutes, or the time it took me to cook up another batch.

Remove from the fridge, knead, and form into round and oval pieces for bugs and bees, or some round flat pieces for faces and free hand creations. Allow the pieces to dry. At this point I painted my "stones" with primer before I took them to the group for decorating. I'm not sure if the primer is a necessary step.

I did get a comment from someone that Argo Laundry Starch is not that easy to find in most grocery stores. However, the starch box recommends it for use with irritated skin, including diaper rash, which leads me to believe that cornstarch might be a likely substitute. They both seem to have the same consistency. I'll have to give it a try.

You can also use this play clay for making other wondrous things, like bowls and statues. The clay can be kept in a tightly covered container in a cool place for up to two weeks.

Enjoy!

Chocolate!

One of my most ardent searches as I pursue a life of healthy eating has been for a wonderful, creamy, chocolaty dessert. Get real! However, I do believe I'm on the right track with this particular recipe.

For one, it contains agave nectar as the sweetener, which has a low glycemic index so it is slowly absorbed into the body preventing spikes in blood sugar. It's also dairy free even though it's as creamy as can be. However, it's still high in sugars and carbohydrates so moderation is appropriate. As Hugh Mackay says, "Nothing is perfect."

Recipe:
2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Whip all the ingredients together. Place into a covered container and cool it in the fridge or the freezer for about an hour. Serve.

A few lovely scoops of this concoction along with some sliced strawberries make a lovely dessert. I recently served this to three of my friends and they gave it six thumbs up. Then we went outside with bubble wands and sent soapy bubbles throughout the neighborhood. I have some pretty neat friends.

Enjoy!

No Body But Me

Here's a fun experiment. Ask a friend or acquaintance how much money you would have to pay them in order for them to let you put some sugar in the gas tank of their car. Tell them that you've always been curious as to what, exactly, would happen to the engine and how far you could actually drive and other fascinating things like that.

OK. That's probably not a great idea. So let's talk about pets. Do you know some loving and responsible pet owners who would never feed their pets people food. Note: people food is food that people eat. Sometimes guests in the house might sneak a pet a cheesy chip or some kind of fried puff and the owner of the pet gets rather bent out of shape explaining how unhealthy, yadda yadda, while refilling the bowl with more cheesy chips or fried puffs for the guest to eat. People are peculiar animals.

And finally, why do people spend decades ingesting non-food items and generally abusing their living bodies, only to be front and center when someone dies, explaining how important it is to have proper respect for the body of the deceased. A little late, don't you think?

Did you already guess? I'm a reformed junk food junkie, which is almost as bad as a reformed smoker. When I'm not looking up recipes for tasty salads I'm fantasizing about bacon cheese burgers. Would love it if you have a tasty salad recipe and would be willing to share. Perhaps a salad that tastes like a bacon cheese burger.

Thank you

Sweet Onion Bread/Crackers

According to the Mayo Clinic website, wheat allergy is one of the most common allergies in children. There goes the old peanut butter and jelly sandwich! But fear not. All is not lost. There are some pretty darn good options out there that don't take a lot of work. This is a recipe I got from my daughter-in-law that requires just a few ingredients and a dehydrator. She said that the grand kids love these and there's a wonderful aroma that fills the house whenever she makes these. Better yet, there are as many variations out there as there are imaginations.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet onion - Vidalia onion is great
1 cup ground raw sunflower seeds
1 cup ground golden flax seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Bragg liquid amino
Optional - Splash of Agave nectar - I don't do this option

Process the onion in a food processor with the S blade until very fine. Most recipes warn about doing the onion in small batches and not letting the mixture get mushy. I do mine in my Vita Mix and get it mushy.

Pour this into a bowl with the other ingredients and mix to blend well. Spread about 1/4 inch thick onto teflex sheets for a bread-like product and thinner for crackers. If you don't have extra teflex sheets then parchment paper does just fine. After about five hours or when the top is dry flip it over onto the mesh tray and carefully peel the teflex or parchment paper off. Continue dehydration until desired dryness or crispness is reached. Round dehydrators tend to keep the center moist even with a longer drying time. I have the Excalibur, which dries bread and crackers evenly.

Variations I have known and loved include adding a can of drained, dices tomatoes along with some of my homemade pesto. I've also added salsa and a dash of cayenne pepper for a Southwestern flavor.

Although I prefer the crackers, I sometimes make a large bread-like square. It's flexible enough to use as a delicious sandwich roll up.

Enjoy!