Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is all about LOVE!

I was thinking about love this morning and remembering my journey in learning to love unconditionally. I don't want to sound like I have arrived but I'm a lot further along than when I think about how I used to be. In my journey with God, the times He has placed a heavy hand on me it has always been regarding love. I remember years ago being in a small fellowship and after we were there for a while we started seeing signs of problems in the fellowship and I was heart broken hoping this time this was going to be the place where things would work out. One day on our way home from church, I was thinking about the situation in this fellowship and out of the blue God said to me get the log out of your eye before you get the speck out of someone else. Well, I said, "what is the log? I don't have a clue." Silence from God. Not until 2 months later in the middle of the night, I had awakened and was laying there thinking about this fellowship and was heart broken and like before out of no where, God said to me, though they speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love they are like a clanging gong and a noisy cymbal. I said, "that's it, that's it." There is no love! Sadly, I didn't remember several months ago when He told me to get the log out of my eye first.

After this, we were in another fellowship and I watched the same thing taking place there. In the last twelve years, God has taught me a lot about love and how we all need to feel loved and accepted and I mean we need to really love from our heart. None of this, "I love you" and it's not backed up with actions. For someone who needs love, that's only words and it means nothing. We need to love and accept people where they are without trying to change them. When you love people without trying to change them, then they change, because they want to change.

Something that will be forever etched in my memory,was a television show it was either 60 minutes or 20/20 and it was about street people in New York. The whole segment was about street people and following them for a day. What they do, where they go, what they eat, where they sleep etc. At the end of the day, the reporter was under a bridge in New York City talking with a woman who was making her bed for the night. It was winter and she was sleeping in a huge box (like a refrigerator box) and she was taking her blanket out of her cart that she had been pushing all day. The reporter asked her how old she was, she was 37 but she looked like she was 73 (I'm not exaggerating). Then he asked her if she could have anything in the world what would she want? She did not hesitate, she said,"I would just like to know that someone really loved me." Tears were flowing down my cheeks. I'll never forget it because in my mind when he asked her I knew she would probably say a warm home with a nice clean bed. I realized how important unconditional love is and how desperately people need it. Not just the poor of our world, because there are rich people who are poor and they need it just as much.

When I talk about unconditional love people think they have it and I'm not saying that everyone doesn't have it but it has been my experience that most people don't understand unconditional love. That's why my advise to young mothers is learn about unconditional love. That was the LOG in my eye!

As you celebrate this wonderful day of LOVE, ask yourself what does it really mean to love unconditionally.

Always love to you,

galatha

Apple,Pear Salad with Maple Pecan Bacon

8 thick bacon slices
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (finely chopped)
1 head Romaine
1 head Red Leaf lettuce
1 large Barlett pear
1 large Gala apple
1 cup halved red seedless red grapes
4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese crumbled

Cranberry Vinaigrette
1 cup canned wholeberry cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
Whisk the above ingredients together until smooth makes about 2 cups.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place lightly greased wire rack in a foil lined 15x10 jelly roll pan. Dip bacon slices into maple syrup allow excess to drain off then press pecans onto both sides of the bacon. Bake for 20 minutes on each side or until bacon is crisp and brown. Remove and let stand until cool and then cut into 1 inch pieces.
Place cut greens into a salad bowl and thinly slice pear and apple. Toss with salad greens. Top with grapes, cheese and bacon. Drizzle cranberry vinaigrette over top.

Made this salad for my sister's birthday dinner and it was fabulous. The mix of sweet fruit and sweet and tangy dressing with the salty cheese and nutty bacon was some wonderful flavors.

Grandma Mills' Old Fashion Egg Custard Pie

My family celebrated my sister's birthday on Sunday. She didn't want anything particular for her birthday dinner so I chose to fix Turkey and Dressing. We only had it once through the holidays and my husband had felt a little deprived since we had Italian on Christmas day instead of the usual turkey and dressing again. It was all very tasty and everyone enjoyed it.

I had put some leftover cranberry salad in the freezer and also candied sweet potatoes. I wasn't sure how they would do in the freezer but we always have a lot of cranberry salad left and I usually end up throwing it out because we just don't eat it all. I am happy to say that it turned out great after being frozen. It tasted wonderful and so did the candied sweet potatoes. So we had a few little traditional items to go along with our turkey and dressing. I will post my cranberry salad recipe if you are interested. It is very good and now knowing that you can freeze it........that's an added benefit.

When I am making pies for family dinners my sister will always request an egg custard pie. This pie is very light and is really good but it's not a pie that most people think of eating these days. Most people want apple, cherry, chocolate etc. So I always make my sister an egg custard pie for her to take home with her.

This recipe is from my father's mother. She was a little wisp of a women. Probably 90 pounds, long grey hair that was always in a bun on the back of her head. She always wore cotton leggings (summer or winter) and cotton dresses buttoned all the way to the neck. A gentle woman who told me wonderful stories. They were make believe but I was a little girl and I loved to hear them. She would sit for hours and play cards with me....books and Old Maid. After my grandfather died, she lived with my aunt but would come to our home several times a month a stay a long weekend with us. She always made homemade donuts, a vinegar or custard pie. My sister and I have tried to find her recipe for a vinegar pie but have been unable to find it. She became sick while staying with us and wanted to stay at our home. She ended up living with us for almost a year. She died at our home on Mother's Day when I was eight. I was very blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers.

Egg Custard Pie

4 slightly beaten eggs
1/2 cup sugar, (I add 1 cup sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups scalded milk (I use 1 cup half and half and 1 1/2 milk)
1-9inch pie shell
ground nutmeg

Blend eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla. Gradually stir in scaled milk. Pour into pastry shell, sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Juice Feasting

Last week I finished up a 9 day supposed to be 10 day juice fast. My daughter, for several years has been following a blog, Juicy Days.com by Q. She purchased his e-book for me and it was filled with a lot of great information. Our family has juiced for many years but it has mainly been carrot juice so I was very interested in all of his green drinks since I want to keep my body neutralized and not acidic. Almost all diseases flourish in an acidic environment. When your ph is neutral your body starts to heal. The basic green drink is cucumber, celery, 1 lemon, spinach or the green of your choice (kale, romaine, red leaf lettuce, chard, cilantro, arugula. It is very tasty. I could tell that my body needed this because it tasted so good to me. He also has savory drinks which include adding broccoli, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, carrot, ginger, fresh garlic. These are also wonderful. The savory was my husband's favorite. Then there are the fruit juice, several examples are watermelon and lemon, orange, grapefruit and lemon, apple,beet and lemon. On this fast you can have one fruit drink a day, all the green juice and water you can drink.

I have never detoxed before where I felt like something was growing on my teeth but I was brushing my teeth quite often. This fast was a lot easier for me than a straight water fast because you don't feel weak and I actually had energy to do things. This fast also includes several water enemas to help flush toxins out of the body. He also recommends a quart jar of lemon water first thing in the morning.

This juice feasting was very beneficial for me and I have no major health problems. So check with your doctor before doing anything like this if you do have health issues.

FYI - My husband loves apples and he had been telling me lately that the apples we tasting terrible. Then I was with a friend recently who was telling me her husband saw something on T.V. about how they pick apples and store them for an unbelievable period of time before the apples reach the public. Then another friend was telling me after this about seeing Suzanne Sommers on a talk show and that she always buys organic apples, strawberries, and grapes because you cannot wash the chemical off of these fruits. I have actually at times been able to taste the chemical in grapes. Hence, I bought organic apples at the health food store and my husband could tell the difference. He said, "they were delicious and he couldn't believe the difference in the taste." Needless to say, I won't be buying apples at the store anymore and I'm thinking about growing my own strawberries and grapes.

I want to encourage you to start growing a garden and herbs. First, the herbs are so flavorful and they add so much to the taste of your food. Then if you are growing your own food you know what has been put on it. There is nothing like bringing fresh produce from your garden to your kitchen table. Can't get better than that! I always say, start with a salsa garden - tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro - doesn't take a lot of room and I promise you'll love it.

Climbing Roses

Yes, I've been spending a lot of time this week looking and dreaming through my seed and flower catalogs. I am good at imagining how I would want everything to look if I could buy everything I wanted and if the south wind didn't come sweeping down the plain at our home.

Roses are so beautiful and I grew up with a mother who loved roses and who had a beautiful rose garden. She didn't have a climber but her roses were big and beautiful and they smelled wonderful. I love her roses but I have a special love for climbers. I just love how the climb and cascade of things. They are great at filling in voids, they add so much color, they soften the corner of a porch, or add so much charm to a picket fence, they blanket an arbor, fragrance a doorway, and look beautiful climbing up a big old tree. Few ornamentals can change the look and mood of a garden like a climbing rose.

Old climbers are the best in my opinion. Old climbers include antique, heirlooms, and found roses. I think these are a lot better than hybrids. Old roses just need a sunny location, well drained soil and good air circulation. They are relatively disease and bug free.

These roses are some of my favorites. I'm sure as you research you will find some you like as well or better. Small climbers:(6 to 10 feet) "Maggie" is a found rose, very fragrant and I think it's red. "Graham Thomas" old rose yellow flowers would look good against a red brick wall. Medium climbers: (10 to 18 feet) "Climbing Pinkie" this is rarely not in flower. "Mutabilis" flower opens yellow and turn to orange, pink and then crimson. "Zephirine Drouhin" Heady fragrance with pink flowers. Large climbers: (18 to 20 feet or more) "Lady Banks" my favorite. Beautiful yellow clumped roses, gets very huge. "Peggy Martin" pink roses from spring to fall. New Dawn is a hybrid but I do love it too. Light pink and fragrant. "Alberic Barbier" pale yellow to white and flowers smell like fresh apples.

I love my climber it's an old one and very dark red. It was the ONLY flower around our home when we moved in. I have taken good are of it and it is beautiful against our yellow house. So dream a bit, if you will about where in your garden you might place one of these beauties, add some fragrance or a dose of romance. All of the great gardens of the world have roses they seem to add elegance wherever they are used.

Enjoying the Weather

I know every one is enjoying this wonderful weather but also wondering what is going on. I heard on the national news Thursday night that 95 percent of the U.S. had above normal temperatures and 115 cities had record highs.

My lilac bush didn't drop its leaves until 2 weeks ago and my pictures today are of my honeysuckle bush that had 4 blossoms on it. When I was watering this week I found them, could hardly believe it.

Now is a good time to get your crepe myrtles trimmed up for the spring and if you haven't planted any bulbs you still have a little time to get those in the ground. Also, if you are starting any of your vegetable plants from seeds now is the time to get those started also.

My husband has been helping me and we have new places ready for blackberries and blueberries this year. I'm excited about that.

This week has not only provided beautiful weather for being outside but the evenings have been just as wonderful. Star gazing has been great. All we have needed is just a jacket to keep us warm. We are starting into a full moon and so it's not quite as dark as it needs to be but it has still been beautiful.

I was reading an article of vitamin D. Most people are deficient in vitamin D and vitamin D does a lot of things for your body. Helps your immune system fight off disease plus much more. Anyway, I take a lot of vitamin D but in the article I was reading they said the vitamin D you get from the sun produces something in your body that the pill form does not produce. This particular thing that is produce (I can't remember what it's called) causes your arteries to be flexible. If you have a secluded space in your back yard set outside for about 15 minutes with your shirt off and take in some rays. It will be very good for you. :)

Have a great weekend and get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

True Happiness and Peace for 2012