24 March 2016

Reading List

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 
By
R.A. Dick

I wonder if there is something wrong with me, she thought, that I can get so much from so little, because all my joy really comes from not doing- not spending summer afternoons in stuffy drawing rooms listening to women setting their neighbors' morals to right over the bridge table, not spending summer evenings listening to men and women setting the worlds' affairs to rights over five course dinners, not in sewing circles, nor in reading groups.  I must be very selfish, she thought, for I want to set nothing and no one right; all I want is to be left in peace to make what I can of this problem called life for myself and my children.  

But I cannot forgive myself, said the captain.  I should have known better, because interfering unasked in other people's lives, whether from kindness or cruelty, is one of the greater sins, and I knew it.  It was my own pride.  I thought you needed a lesson, and I am the one that should be taught.  I am, indeed, a poor representative of either world, and I shall go away until I have learned greater wisdom.

16 March 2016

Reading List

Carry a Big Stick
The Uncommon Heroism of Theodore Roosevelt
By 
George Grant

Life brings sorrow and joys alike. It is what a man does with them-not what they do to him-that is the true test of his mettle.

Weasel words from mollycoddles will never do when the day demands prophetic clarity from greathearts.

He would not tolerate in us children selfishness, cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness.

I have a horror of words that are not translated into deeds, of speech that does not result in action.

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.


15 March 2016

Snuggle Bug

Little one is not feeling well... Curled up taking a late nap.

Chocolate Syrup

Heat 3/4 cup water with 1/4 cup maple syrup.  Bring to a simmer, remove from heat then add 1 cup cocoa powder and 1 Tablespoon vanilla.  Whisk until well mixed.  Add a spoonful to milk or use to top cookies or other desserts.  Store in the refrigerator.  If you prefer your syrup to be very sweet you will want to add more maple syrup.

12 March 2016

A Quote

“’Why is thy mind so entangled,’ said the master, ‘that thou slackenest thy pace? What matters it to thee what they whisper here? Follow me, and let the people talk. Stand thou as a firm tower which never shakes its summit for blast of winds. Forever the man in whom thought wells up on thought sets back his mark because the one saps the force of the other.’ What could I answer save, ‘I come?’”
THE DIVINE COMEDY, Dante Alighieri

06 March 2016

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons potato starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup blueberry flavored kombucha
1/2 cup hemp milk with 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (let sit 15 minutes)
Wild blueberries

Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, mix then gently fold in blueberries.
Place in muffin pan
Sprinkle top of each muffin with a mixture of cinnamon and maple sugar
Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes for mini muffins

03 March 2016

Reading List

Arabella
By
Georgette Heyer 

The man who could be bored in the midst of such a lively family as yours must be an insufferable fellow, above being pleased by anything.