Diet Berry Pie

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar substitute
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 (4 oz) pkg sugar-free jello
1 cup each: strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (can use all strawberries)
1 pre-baked pie shell
whipped topping

DIRECTIONS
Mix sugar substitute and cornstarch in saucepan. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute to thicken. Stir in gelatin until dissolved. Cook to room temperature. Stir in berries and pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until firm. Top with whipped topping.

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Edible, adj.: Good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm. ~ Ambrose Bierce

 

Creamed Rutabaga and Pearl Onions

INGREDIENTS
12 ounces pearl onions
1 large rutabaga, diced
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup goose stock or chicken broth

DIRECTIONS
Blanch the pearl onions by placing them into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. Cook them for about 1 minute. Remove the onions from the water with a strainer, and then plunge into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain them, and then remove the skins. Toss diced rutabaga into pot of boiling water and cook until tender.

Put the onions in a 3-quart saucepan and place over low-medium heat. Add the cream, bay leaves, parsley, garlic and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Then, remove the cover and add stock and tender rutabagas. Season again. Allow to cook down for 5 minutes to tighten up the cream sauce. Discard the garlic clove and bay leaves before serving.

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

Chimichinagas

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground red chilis or chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilis
8 flour tortillas (8 to 10 inches in diameter), warmed
1 egg, beaten
Salsa, if desired

Cook turkey, onion and garlic in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until turkey is no longer pink; drain. Stir in almonds, raisins, vinegar, ground red chilis, salt, cinnamon, cloves, tomato and green chilis. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon about 1/2 cup turkey mixture onto center of each tortilla. Fold one end of tortilla up about 1 inch over turkey mixture; fold right and left sides over folded end, overlapping. Fold remaining end down. Brush edges with egg to seal.

Heat oven to 400º. Spray chimichangas with cooking spray. Place seam sides down in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 1 inch. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until tortillas begin to brown and filling is hot. Serve chimichangas with salsa.

Serves: 8

True love cannot be found where it does not exist, nor can it be denied where it does. ~ Torquato Tasso

 

Dr. Cooper’s Soup

1 medium head cabbage
2 large green peppers
1 bunch celery
6 to 8 carrots
6 beef cubes
2 medium onions
2 large cans tomatoes

Chop all ingredients. Add beef cubes. Add water to cover vegetables. Cook 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. This is a soup to lower blood pressure and to lose weight.

Remember: This diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least two weeks in between.

Day One:
Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For your beverages; unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

Day Two:
Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.

Day Three:
Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.

Day Four:
Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.

Day Five:
Beef And Tomatoes: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken instead of beef (but absolutely no skin-on chicken). If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef; for one of the beef days (but not both).

Day Six:
Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart’s content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven:
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.

 

Vivre Vignette

It’s Monday and normally the busiest day of week for me. We have a huge snow storm coming up and I have a dozen or so things to get done. I’m board out of my mind here since the doctor said I have tendonitis and to stay off my foot another 4 days – no work, like I haven’t been off my foot for over a month now… I have emailed and blogged until I’m blue in the face… the rose has left my cheeks. I was looking at my TO DO List for today and was thinking all this has to be done. Now… I just need to find some way to do it all, sitting down.  Any ideas?

 

~~~~ s Y m ~~~~

 

I was so board I started reading my old journal from 1988 and it’s funny because I had made a joke about Germantown needing a McDonalds. Shortly after that I guess, we got one. It had nothing to do with me, but I’m so glad we did. We need those fast food places. We have so little commerce here. In my writing, I had made a list of stores I wanted to see come in and toyed with the idea of opening one myself, here is part of that list:

• A gift shop (quilts & clocks)
• A Christmas store
• A Bookstore
• Art Gallery
• Financial Office
• Taxi Service
• Specialty Green House
• Small Deli
• Large Eat-In Restaurant (like Red Lobster)
• Pet Shop
• Day Care

 

Since then, we have gotten the Daycare and its still here. The two greenhouses that we had: closed. The small Deli: opened and closed.  The Guesthouse and The Primitive Shop were a nice addition although for some it may not be their cup of tea. As for the Restaurants – ha, don’t even go there… kidding. We still have Kathy’s Kitchen and yes it’s in dire need of a makeover, but the company is nice and the food is good, so hopefully she will keep it open and maybe expand. Red Lobster is not coming anytime soon, that’s for sure.

 

I believe small towns should support their own little shops and stores. This way we don’t have to drive 30 miles to pick up a gift or bird supplies. We have a lot of older people that live in our community; we should put some of their needs first, with a lot of these stores within walking distance.  We have far more attractions now than we did in 1988 but we could stand a few more.

 

Statisticians estimate lost time in traffic could cost American businesses up to $100 billion a year. Is it too late or should I just be glad that we are a tiny town and pay up for the gas?

 

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On this day…

• March 2, 1807 – The U.S. Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States… from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”
• March 2, 1877 – Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.
• March 2, 1904 Dr. Seuss was born
• March 2, 1974 – Postage stamps jumped from 8 to 10 cents for first-class mail.
• March 2, 1950 Karen Carpenter was born (The Carpenter’s).

 

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A new broom sweeps clean, but the old broom knows all the corners.

– Irish Proverb