Sweet Betty

It is true that God can use anything to get our attention and to teach us and in my case He used the sweetest little dog I have ever known.  Yes, we lost our precious little yorkie, Eli, almost two years ago and as much as we loved him he couldn't measure up to Betty.  As my husband said when we  buried her, "if we live to be 100 years old, we'll never have another dog like Betty."

Betty was a stray, who just showed up at our house one day about this time of the year ten years ago.  She was a smaller dog with the cutest little sway and bounce to her step.  I started calling her Betty Boop  when I realized she was going to become a permanent fixture around our home.  But it wasn't long until I changed her name and started calling her Sweet Betty. I wish I was a prolific writer so you could capture the essence of who she was. I used to confide to my dear friend and say, "do you think she could be an angel in disguise?" She laughed but I was serious!

I knew she had experienced a hard life because when I first started feeding her she would bury the food and I had never actually seen a dog do that except in cartoons.  We had about four cats at the time and when I took her food out the cats would start eating along with her, she would make this little growl and they would step back and she would always leave food on her plate so they could have some and she could have easily eaten it all.  It was so funny, I would get up early in the morning and all the cats would be curled up with her in her bed on the porch.  We have a sidewalk in front of our front door and she would stand in the grass by the edge of the sidewalk and look in the front door never up against the door to look in and when she saw us pass by she would stand up and start wagging her tail.  Every morning, I would see her in the pasture facing the east watching the sun come up and in the evening she was always on the driveway watching the sun go down.  I know this sounds different but she really did do this.  She had the biggest brown eyes that would just melt your heart.  My last memory of her before she died is holding her head in my hands and looking into her sweet face and those big eyes and telling her everything is going to be ok.  She was pregnant and she died during delivery. She was with us only four months but the impact of her life was everlasting.

Let me tell you what I learned from her.  As we were burying her, my husband and I was crying as if we had lost our dearest relative.  In my mind at the time, I said to God "I can't believe we are so broken hearted over this dog" and He said to me, "why did you love her so much?"  I sat there and thought about it for a moment and what immediately came to my mind was she was so meek and gentle and loving.  Then God said, "what kind of dog was she?"  I said, "a Heinz 57."  Then He said, "look over in the orchard at your two chocolate labs, you spent a lot of money for those dogs and you will never love them the way you've loved her." Do you see it's not the outward that matters it's what's inside that determines your beauty. Those labs are pedigree dogs that are admired by the world for their beauty and bloodline and Betty was what the world would call a mutt.   Even though this was just a dog, it was such a physical picture that I had experienced, that the reality of this truth went from my head to my heart.

I have struggled the biggest part of my life with how I look.  I never liked my nose, my feet were to big, I was too tall.  I always wanted to look like someone else, dress like someone else, have someone else's personality, and afraid if I expressed my true feelings I might not be accepted. I just had to be anybody but who I was.  It is a very popular saying today, that we need to love ourselves and that's very true.  Each person is unique with their own giftings and qualities.  But the majority of people never find this out about themselves because they are to busy trying to be like someone else and accepted.

I've always heard it's not about beauty, it's what's on the inside that counts and frankly up until this time I thought that was bullshit. Because that is not how it is in real life.  It's all about how you look, the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the house you own, how much money you make, your title in life, who you know and do I need to continue on........no!  Everyone wants to be loved and accepted and so people play roles and put on faces that are not who they truly are.  The Good opinions of others play major roles in people's lives.

It wasn't long after this that our family attended an outdoor concert and my daughter took a profile picture of me and put it on facebook.  My hair was flat to my head and my nose was sticking out there.  I looked terrible!  When I saw the picture my first reaction was to go to the phone and call her and tell her to get that picture off of facebook. But I stopped in my tracks and thought but that is me, that's how I look and I never made the call.  Love me or hate me that's who I am.  I chose to love me big nose and all.  :) I was excited because I knew I was changing. 

It's been a process for me and I didn't change over night.  I have learned to really love who I am and to embrace my likes and dislikes, all my flaws and to be verbal about them because that is who I am.  I am learning to say no and to not worry about the good opinions of other people.  My philosophy is to not judge others but to look for the uniqueness in each individual, to accept and love who they are even if I don't agree.  I want everyone to experience the freedom and peace of being who they are.

The truth is the world hasn't changed, they still judge by those standards I mentioned above but it not longer affects my life because I'm more than all that superficial stuff and so are you! 

If you struggle with any of these issues, I hope this will challenge you to look at who you really are and find the courage to embrace who you are.  We all need you to be you!

Bugs in a Jar Quilt

This is the baby quilt I made for Dutch, our new little grandson who will be arriving in June. The top picture is the day I finished the quilt.  I was sweating bullets afraid I was not going to get it finished in time.  I decided to have it machine quilted because I knew Dutch would be grown before I finished it by hand.  I was able to give it to my daughter at her first baby shower last weekend.  She loved it!
I'm dropping it off today at the quilt shop and they will have it finished for me by the end of May.  Whew!

I think this will be a fun quilt for him.  He will learn all about bugs and their names.  A lady at the quilt shop gave me a great idea of playing "I spy" with him in learning his bugs.

I reconnected with a friend from high school on facebook and she happened to live in Blanchard, Oklahoma which isn't far from me.  We met last summer for lunch and went to the quilt show at the Blanchard Library. Someone had made a bugs in the jar quilt and it was on display.  I just loved it and my friend who is a wonderful quilter told me she had the pattern and would show me how to make it.  So much gratitude and thankfulness to her for helping me and putting up with all my mistakes. 

I really had a great time making it and reconnecting with an old friend.  Check out the quilt shop in Blanchard, Oklahoma, it's wonderful.  It's called Beth's Quilting Quarters & Fabric Shop.  She has a wonderful selection of fabrics, supplies and she does machine quilting.  And there is a wonderful little tea room/sandwich shop with a great gift shop across the street.

Oklahoma's small towns really have a lot to offer.  I'm always amazed at what I find in these small towns.  Really unique finds! Just like Beth's Quilt Shop, I found fabric in her shop that I had not seen in Oklahoma City and I had been in every fabric and quilt shop in OKC.  This summer make it a goal to visit several small towns.  You'll have a great time and you'll love the small town feel!

Beef Stroganoff or Beef and Noodles

This recipe is from a dear friend in Texas.  She loves crockpot meals and she told me about this several years ago.  My hub loves this and it is so easy to make.  When you have a busy day, it only takes minutes to put this together and you can cook it in the crockpot or in the oven.  Boil some noodles and make a salad and you have a great meal.  I titled this beef stroganoff or beef and noodles because you can go two ways with this recipe.  My friend's recipe is beef and noodles and I change it up sometimes to make it beef stroganoff.

Beef and Noodles
2 packages stew meat
1 envelope beef onion soup mix
2 cans mushroom soup
1-2 soups cans of water

I always rinse off the stew meat and the really big pieces I cut in half.  Then put meat in a bowl and add the next three ingredients and mix well. Put in a greased casserole dish and cover with foil or in the crockpot.  I cook mine in the oven at 325 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Take foil off and stir the meat mixture and spoon over cooked noodles.

For beef stroganoff, do all the above and add one small package of fresh sliced mushrooms and one thinly sliced onion (onions are optional).  You may need a little more water.  Cover and cook the same temperature and time.  Remove from oven when done and add one cup sour cream and stir into mixture well and then spoon over buttered noodles.  When I'm doing this beef dish,  I love to use pappardelle noodles.  These are a big wide golden artisan egg noodle and I love them with this beef dish.
Awh................very comforting food!  :)

My Mom's Birthday

Today is my Mom's birthday.  As I was thinking about her this morning, I realized that I am the age she was when she passed.

Sobering!

The Soothing Affects of Nature

This is one thing I learned from John Muir, he went to nature for healing and to be revived.

Wonderful Quote!

They tried to bury us.  They didn't know we were seeds.
                                            ~Mexican Proverb

My daughter shared this with me, I loved it!

First Roses of Spring

These are my first roses of spring.  The pink is called New Dawn Rose and isn't it beautiful. When I look at this rose, I think of a baby girl.   I don't remember the name of the yellow rose. I love little bud vases of roses sitting around.  Looks so beautiful and I really enjoy looking at them.

Easy Raw Vegetable Salad

I made fish sandwiches for dinner the other night and made this easy vegetable salad to go along with it.  I used to make this salad a lot and we got tired of it.  But thought of it when I made these sandwiches and it was really good.  I wanted to share this with you, it is a good accompaniment  to a lot of different dishes.

1 broccoli crown, cut into little florets
1/4 head of fresh cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly
1 cucumber, diced (optional)

Toss all this together in a bowl and add Buttermilk Ranch Dressing.
I make the dressing from the packet.  It is so much better than bottled and only takes minutes.

1 packet of buttermilk ranch seasoning
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 cup of buttermilk
Whisk together.

Coconut-Pecan Strawberry Shortcakes

Yesterday was our 41st. wedding anniversary.  We had a wonderful brunch at Legends did some shopping at a green house and came home.  It was a wonderful day!  We stopped and picked up some strawberries and other ingredients for this wonderful strawberry shortcake because I knew we would want something later that evening. 

This is a wonderful strawberry shortcake recipe.  I went by the recipe making the shortcakes which said you would have 8 (2 1/2 by 3 inch) cakes but I ended up with 12 that were huge after they baked.  You might want to experiment with cutting the size.  As you can see by the picture, ours was pretty big.  Another suggestion I want to make is, I cut the strawberries and seasoned them and there was some juice but not enough to make it really tasty so that the shortcake soaks up some of the juice.  Next time, I will buy a container of frozen strawberries and mix with fresh berries so there will be more juice.  You my not like that much juice so this is just a suggestion. We loved the shortcake recipe it's an updated version with coconut and pecans in the dough.  Who wouldn't like that?

Shortcakes
4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
11/2 table salt
3/4 cup butter, cubed
11/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, divided
1 cup finely chopped pecans
8 pecan halves

Strawberries
1 quart strawberries, halved
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons sugar

Sweet Mascarpone Cream
1 (8oz.) container mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together flour and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl.  Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas.

Process toasted coconut in a food processor until finely chopped.  Whisk together eggs, extracts and 1 cup of cream.  Add egg mixture, chopped pecans and toasted coconut to flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just until blended.  Knead dough in bowl about 10 times using lightly floured hands.  (Dough will be soft and moist.)

Turn dough out on a floured surface and gently pat to a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 8(2 1/2 x 3inch) squares, reshaping dough once.  Place shortcakes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and chill 15 minutes.  Press 1 pecan half into each shortcake, brush tops with 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Sprinkle with sweetened flaked coconut.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
I prepared the strawberries while the shortcakes were baking.

Assemble: split shortcake in half horizontally.  Place each shortcake bottom on a dessert plate and top with about 1/2 cup of strawberry mixture and desired amount of sweet mascarpone cream and top with other shortcake half.

Chem Trails Exposed by Pilot

http://myeclinik.com/chemtrail-pilot-blows-the-lid-off-operation-indigo-skyfold/

These are chemical trails over our home on Thursday.  I was out mowing and looked up and it looked like a checker board.  There were trails every where.  If you will look at these pictures.  It starts as a long white line then starts to spread out and as it spreads out the beautiful blue sky turns into a haze.

I'm very thankful for this pilot that he has a conscience and is coming forward to verify what is going on.  I'm praying that he and his family will be protected.  I praying also that you will take the time to go to this link and hear his story.

This is very serious.  It is destroying the Earth and our health!

Spring Onion Alphabet Soup

I helped my daughter yesterday with a garage sale and I made this wonderful soup to have for lunch.  This is a new recipe and I love it.  The base is onions with peas and chicken broth and basil.  It's definitely spring, light, great flavor and economical.

I served it with slices of baguette bread with a little provolone shredded on top and broiled in the oven and a spinach salad. The recipe suggests a dollop on lemon sour cream but I didn't make any yesterday for our lunch.  This will be a keeper for me.

1/4 cup of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1 large leek, white part thinly sliced
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups fresh or frozen shelled peas
4 cups of chicken broth
4 cups water
1 cup small pasta (alphabet shape or acini di pepe)
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup torn basil leaves
Lemon Sour cream (optional)

Heat butter and olive in soup pan until butter is melted.
Add onion, stir until coated.  Cook 15 minutes until softened. Stir frequently.  Your onions will start to brown if you don't stir them frequently.  It's ok if they brown other than you have brown flakes in your soup.
Add leek and green onions.  Cook about 7 more minutes and stir in peas.  Mix well
Add chicken broth, water, pasta and a 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and let simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes.  Stir in lemon juice and basil.  This became pretty thick and I added another cup of water.

Lemon Sour Cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Dash of garlic powder
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Mix well

The soup makes 6 servings.

Coconut Pineapple Cake

This was the highlight of Easter dinner or for me it was.  I love desserts!  Everything in moderation right.  :)  This was the last new recipe I tried for Easter dinner. This was a recipe I had saved from Southern Living.  I know I have saved it at least six years.  I misplaced it for several years and then found it again.  This was the winner of Dessert of the Year for Southern Living. I thought it sounded wonderful and I did like this cake but I personally would still have a pineapple filling, but I would prefer a creamy filling. I think this should be called a Coconut Lemon Pineapple cake because the cake is lemony.

This was a recipe submitted by a lady who's grandmother made this special cake for all family get togethers and celebrations. It's called Nanny's Famous Coconut Pineapple Cake.

1 (15oz.) can crushed pineapple in juie, undtained
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 cup lemon-lime soft drink
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pineapple Filling
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (6 oz.) package frozen flaked coconut, thawed (I couldn't find frozen so I used regular Baker's coconut)

Grease and flour bottom and sides of 3- 9 inch round cake pans.
Drain pineapple, reserving 3/4 cup juice.  Remove 1/4 cup reserved juice for cream cheese frosting and reserve crushed pineapple for pineapple filling.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
Combine 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice and soft drink.  Add flour to butter mixture alternately with juice mixture, beginning and ending with flour.  Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.  Stir in extracts.  Mix well and Pour into prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.  Remove pans immediately, and cool on wire racks for 10-15 minutes.  Remove cakes from pan and continue to cool completely on wire racks.
Spread 3/4 to 1 cup of Pineapple filling between layers and remaining filling on top of cake.  Spread cream cheese frosting on sides of cake; pipe border around top.  Sprinkle sides with coconut.
Garnish if desired.

Pineapple Filling
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup reserved drained crushed pineapple
1 cup water
Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Stir in pineapple and 1 cup water.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, 15 minutes or until very thick.  Cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1(3 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.  Gradually add powdered sugar, juice, and vanilla mixing well.

If you decide to make this, it is delicious and beautiful.

Lavender Essential Oil and Bad Burn

Just a little info about Lavender essential oil.  There are many uses for Lavender but I want to tell you how it helped me yesterday.  I was cooking dinner last night and had flash boiled some Brussels sprouts, had emptied the water out of the pan, turned to do something and then turned around and wasn't thinking and picked up that hot pan (not by the handle) to put in the dish water to wash and it scaled my hand.  It was burning terribly and I ran and got lavender and put it all over my hand and sat down for a few minutes.  Within 5 minutes, all the burning was gone and later that evening my hand wasn't even sore.  This morning, there are no blisters.  Just amazing! 

I use Young Living Essential oils.  They are therapeutic oils.  Not all essential oils are therapeutic.  Essential oils are wonderful and I literally have nothing in our medicine cabinet except Aleve and that is for my husband's occasional gout attack (maybe twice a year).  We use essential oils now in place of all pharmaceuticals.

If you don't know this all pharmaceuticals are petroleum based, full of chemicals and very bad for you.  If you would like more information please contact me at ggschwartz-2hotmail.com.  An interesting study is the pharmaceutical industry and how they got started.  Very eye opening!

Chipotle-Cilantro Slaw

This is a winner of the best coleslaw recipe last year in Southern Living.  I made this for Easter dinner on Sunday.  We had bar-b-que ribs, not your traditional ham or turkey.  I thought this chipotle slaw would go well with the menu.  It the midst of trying three new recipes and the chaos of getting dinner on the table, I forgot to add the chopped cilantro at the last minute.  LOL! I knew something was missing when I took a bite but realized after dinner what I had forgotten.  Oh well!

I will make this again but with a few changes.  I will use a little more mayo and sugar than what the recipe called for.  I'll give you the original recipe and you can decide if you would like to make changes of your own.  My daughter also suggested this would be a good slaw for fish tacos and it would be.  I would add some green onions to it for fish tacos.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tsp. lime zest
2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (16 oz) package shredded coleslaw mix
1 carrot, shredded ( I used 2 small medium size)
2 canned chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped (I used three)
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

Whisk together first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Add to coleslaw and toss.  Then add chipotle peppers and cilantro and toss well.  Let set about 10 minutes before serving. 

Creamy Basil- Black Pepper Cucumbers

This summer when you are looking for a way to use all those cucumbers you get from the garden, you will have to try this recipe.  These cucumbers would be a great accompaniment to almost any meal. 

2 1/2 lb. cucumbers, peeled and cut into spears
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves, chopped

Toss together cucumbers and salt in a large bowl, and let stand 5 minutes.  Whisk together yogurt and next 4 ingredients; gently stir into cucumber mixture.  Cover and chill 1 to 24 hours.  Add basil, and toss to combine.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Season with salt.

Garden Potato Salad

This is a wonderful new potato salad recipe that I tried.  I will definitely be making this again.  It's light and very healthy. 

3 lb.new potatoes, halved
11/2 teaspoons kosher, salt, divided
4 oz. fresh snow peas or sugar snap peas
3 tablespoons coarse-grained Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
1cup loosely packed fresh herbs (such as basil, chives, mint and dill) coarsely chopped

Bring potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of salt to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes or until tender, drain.  Cool for 30 minutes.
Cook snow peas in 2 cups of boiling water for 1 minutes or until crisp tender, drain, press between paper towels.  Cut peas into 1/2 inch pieces.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.
Whisk together mustard, next 3 ingredients and remaining salt gradually add olive oil in s slow steady stream, whisking until smooth.
Gently toss together potatoes and 1/2 cup of dressing in a large bowl, and let stand for 30 minutes.  Just before serving, gently stir in dressing.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

This will make about 8 servings.

The Creativity of God

The lilacs are from our garden and they smell amazing.  As I was passing by my lilac bush this week, and got a swish of this amazing smell it made me think of the creativity of God.  Not only can we admire the beauty of each individual flower but the smells that accompany these beauties are out of this world! Then the smells of all the herbs......I could go on and on but I'll stop.  :)

When you experience creation, there are just no words to describe the Source of all that is.
Don't forget that the best things in life are free!

Spring and the Garden

For one brief moment in early Spring, the garden has order and lines and borders and then these little bundles of energy take over.  They spread out of their borders and crawl and climb and intermingle into spaces that are not theirs.  Nature is such a metaphor!

I've learned to enjoy this order while it lasts and then to let go.  I feed and water these little bundles of energy but I no longer try to control where they go.  They are free to find their place and flourish.  When I have tried to control them, they have a mind of their own and they will eventually wonder back where they have been. Pruning is necessary at times but this makes them a larger and stronger plant.  They are happiest when they are free and that's when they produce the greatest bounty.  My life is a lot easier now that I have realized this.

NATURE .........It speaks to me everyday in such a beautiful way!

Love Yourself

A woman that knows her worth doesn't measure herself against another woman but stands strong, calmed, and self-confident. ~Anonymous~

For a long time, I always tried to be like every one else instead of who I am, embracing my likes and dislikes.  It takes courage to stand alone and not become a part of the herd mentality. God provided me with an "aha moment" and my world started to change.  I'll share it with you some time.

Remember, it's never to late to be what you might have been!

Come out into the open and rest!

Go Bare!  Find out who you are without your fancy shoes (and I love fancy shoes), IPhone, titanium frames.  Take a morning or a day or even better a weekend to just hang out with yourself, with no agenda.  Follow your nose, your heart and your feet.

Let all the electronics go and all material things that relate to your ego and see who you really are.

If we are not the degree hanging on the wall, the job we have, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the money we make.  If we take away all these things.....who are we really?

Find your PEACE.