Day 173

I have been so scattered!

Posted the same cake recipe twice!

Maybe I'm back to normal....maybe not.

Here's my beloved Randy Morris - Martin  in Bequia.

Shoot for the moon, Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

 Les Brown

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face,
 and show the world all the love in your heart.
Carole King

Opportunities are usually disguised by hard work,
so most people don't recognized them.
Ann Landers

Day 172

Another from my buddy David Rocco

SPAGHETTI ALLA CAPRESE

Cook 1 pound Spaghetti

in boiling water until al dente

Drain and save 1/2 cup pasta water

Mix 2 chopped Tomatoes

1 pound fresh Mozzarella, cubed

1/4 cup extra virgin olive Oil

1 teaspoon fresh Oregano

6-8 fresh Basil leaves, torn

And a little Salt into the pasta

Add some of the reserved water to toss

and make a nice sauce

Perfect dinner for a warm summer night

with some crusty bread

and a glass of wine

Day 171

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
William Blake

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
spring comes, and the grass
grows by itself.
Zen Saying

Day 170

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

Made for Al's birthday, Pat's friend

APPLE CAKE TATIN

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted Butter

plus extra for greasing dish

1 huge Apple (Granny Smith or Fuji)

peeled and thinly sliced

1 3/4 cup Sugar divided

2 large Eggs

1/3 cup Sour Cream

1/2 teaspoon grated Lemon Zest

1/2 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Powdered Sugar

Generously Butter 9 inch glass pie dish and arrange the Apples

Combine1 cup of the Sugar and 1/3 cup Water in small saucepan

Cook over high heat till amber in color or 360 on a candy thermometer

Swirl pan but so not stir

Pour over apple slices

Cream the Butter with remaining Sugar till light and fluffy

Lower speed and add one Egg at a time

Add Sour Cream, Zest and Vanilla

Stir in Flour, BP and Salt only till combined

Pour over apple slices

350 for 30-40 minutes

Cool for 15 minutes then invert onto platter

Dust with Sugar

Day 169

CREATIVE RULES FOR THE ROAD

1 - show up at the paper (canvas, screen, etc.) -
use the paper to rest, to dream, to try

2 - fill the well by caring for your artist

3 - set small and gentle goals and meet them

4 - pray for guidance, courage and humility

5 - remember it is far harder and more painful to be a blocked artist

than to do the work

6 - be alert, always,

for the presence of the Universe leading and helping your artist

7 - choose companions who encourage you to do the work,

not just talk about doing the work

      or why you are not doing the work

8 - remember the Universe loves creativity

9 - remember it is your job to do the work,

not judge the work

10-place this sign in your workplace:

Universe, I will take care of the quantity. You take care of the quality.

Day 168

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

Made for Al's birthday, Pat's friend

APPLE CAKE TATIN

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted Butter

plus extra for greasing dish

1 huge Apple (Granny Smith or Fuji)

peeled and thinly sliced

1 3/4 cup Sugar divided

2 large Eggs

1/3 cup Sour Cream

1/2 teaspoon grated Lemon Zest

1/2 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Powdered Sugar

Generously Butter 9 inch glass pie dish and arrange the Apples

Combine1 cup of the Sugar and 1/3 cup Water in small saucepan

Cook over high heat till amber in color or 360 on a candy thermometer

Swirl pan but so not stir

Pour over apple slices

Cream the Butter with remaining Sugar till light and fluffy

Lower speed and add one Egg at a time

Add Sour Cream, Zest and Vanilla

Stir in Flour, BP and Salt only till combined

Pour over apple slices

350 for 30-40 minutes

Cool for 15 minutes then invert onto platter

Dust with Sugar

Day 167

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

William Blake

Day 166

From my English friend Nigella Lawson

ROCKY ROAD CRUNCH BARS

1 stick unsalted Butter

8 to 10 ounces Semisweet Chocolate

(use 2 Hershey's Special Dark bars)

opps! just realized I forgot to add the 1/4 cup of Corn Syrup
(they turned out fine without this)

8 ounces plain hard crunchy Cookies (like Nilla wafers)

2 cups Mini Marshmallows

2 teaspoons of Powdered Sugar

Melt the Butter, broken bits of Chocolate and the Syrup in a bowl in a microwave

Watch carefully so it doesn't burn

Scoop out about 1/2 cup of this melted mixture

Put the Cookies in a freezer bag and bash them a bit

You want both crumbs and pieces

Fold the cookies into the chocolate mixture, then add the Marshmallows

Pour into a 9 inch square foil pan

Flatten the best you can and pour over the reserved chocolate.

Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight

Cut into 24 fingers and dust with Powdered Sugar.

Day 165

O Captain! My Captain!
Our fearful trip is done
The ship has weather'd every rack
The prize we sought is won.
Walt Whitman

Day 164

TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Find the biggest Yukon gold Potatoes

Bake in the microwave

Let cool to handle

Scoop out flesh

Leaving 1/4 inch skin and flesh

Mash the scooped potato with

Splash of Milk, Cream or Buttermilk

Add a knob of Butter

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh Mozzarella cut into tiny chunks

Salt and Pepper

Dash of Cayenne pepper

Thyme leaves

Stuff the mixture back into the potato shells

Microwave for one more minute

Enjoy!

Day 163

Happy Birthday George!

Gratitude is the only attitude.

Around our pillows golden ladders rise,
And up and down the skies,
With winged sandals shod,
The angels come and go,
The Messengers of God!
Richard Henry Stoddard

I am calm, confident and joyous.

Infuse the activities of life with reverence, compassion and trust.
And make them come alive with meaning and purpose,
Gary Zukav

You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
Kahlil Gibran

Ask love to come into your life.

Let us live in peace and harmony,
to keep the land and all of life in balance.
Only prayer and meditation can do that.
Chief Thomas Banyacya, Hopi

Day 162

I love canned pears!
This is for breakfast or lunch or snack.

PEAR CUSTARD
Open a small can of Pears
and coarsely chop (fresh may be substituted)
Place in a small baking dish or individual ramekins
In a bowl whisk:
3-4 Eggs
1/3 to 1/2 cup of Milk
1 tablespoon of Flour
1 tablespoon Sugar
Splash of Vanilla
Pinch of Salt
Pour over pears
Bake 400
6 - 12 minutes
depending on size of pan
You want knife inserted in the center to come out clean
Serve with berries,
a dollop of whipped cream
a sprinkling of brown sugar

Day 161

Man with one chopstick go hungry.

What we vividly imagine,

ardently desire,

enthusiastically act upon,

must inevitably come to pass.

Colin P. Sisson

Lovely snowflakes,

They fall no where else!

Zen saying

Recognize that all problems,

no matter how difficult,

are opportunities for growth,

and make the most of these opportunities.

Blessed are they who translate

every good thing they know into action:

ever higher truths will be revealed to them.

Invite an angel into your life every day.

Day 160

This is a bold way to start your day.

Big flavors to fuel you big inspirations in a big way.

CHEESY NUTTY OMELET

Beat 4 Eggs in a bowl with a fork

Season with Salt and Pepper

Mix in a big tablespoon of crumbled Blue Cheese

And a big tablespoon of coarsely chopped Walnuts

Melt Butter in pan (or oil)

Add egg mixture

Lift edges as it cooks so liquid on top slides underneath

Flip over and briefly cook other side

Slide onto serving plate and eat immediately

Big smile

Day 159

It is never too late
to be what you might have been.
George Eliot

Love is the only thing
that can be divided without being diminished.

Doing an injury puts you below your enemy;
revenging makes you even with him;
forgetting it sets you above him.
Benjamin Franklin

A thousand words
will not make so deep an impression
as one deed.
Henrik Ibsen

If you find a path with no obstacles,
it probably doesn't lead anywhere.

Worry is wasting today's time
to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities
with yesterday's troubles!

If it is not right, don't do it.
If it is not rue, do not say it.
Marcus Aurelius

Day 158

I use to make these very morning.

Let your imagination go wild.....

SMOOTHIE

Place into blender:

Any kind of Juice or soy or almond Milk

A big spoonful of Yogurt

Some Fruit:

Banana, a handful of blueberries,

some fresh sliced nectarines

Add:

A powdered food Supplement (like Superfood)

Wheat Bran

Brewer's Yeast

Liquid Chlorophyll

Cold pressed almond or omega 3 Oil

Perhaps some freshly grated Ginger

Give it a whirl and drink up!

Day 157

I'm not in Paris
but feel like I'm on holiday
in out new "boutique hotel suite" in Rolling Hills Estates on Deep Valley.
Almost settled in so the recipes will soon follow.

One resolution I have made, and always try to keep, is this:

to rise above little things.

John Burroughs

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand,

nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship;

it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers

that someone else believes in him

and is willing to trust him with his friendship.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be compassionate and take responsibility for each other.

Brotherhood represents an acceptance of difference,

the showing of unconditional love and respect for one another

- a new level of consciousness.

 The Messenger

It is better to lose your pride to the one you love,

than to lose the one you love because of pride.

Gratitude is the ability to love life, to love each other and ourselves.

Becoming grateful requires us to focus on what's right

and change our behavior by filling our lives with deeds of worth.

Day 156

Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result,
one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.
Simon Weil

Ten years' searching in the deep forest
Today great laughter at the edge of the lake.
Soen

Anything more than the truth would be too much.
Robert Frost

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
John Muir

Say one word with your mouth shut!
Zen Saying

Men argue, nature acts.
Voltaire

Day 155

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.
Tao Te Ching

The notes I handle no better than many pianists.
But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides!
Artur Schnabel

Even a good thing isn't as good as nothing.
Zen Saying

Among the great things which are to be found among us,
the Being of Nothingness is the greatest.
Leonardo Da Vinci

I have nothing to say,
I am saying it,
and that is poetry.
John Cage

No one's mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing.
Alan Watts

Day 154

Back to blogging after completing Phase One of our move.
This is a merging of two delicious yummies.
It makes four double grahams.

S'MORE ROCKY ROAD
Take 1/2 bar of dark Chocolate
(Hersey's Special Dark 4.25 ounces)
Break up into small bowl
Add 1 tablespoon Butter
Micro carefully till it melts
Stir in about 1/4 cup miniature Marshmallows
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts
Spoon mixture onto 4 square Graham Crackers
Top with one Marshmallow
Eat immediately or if you can wait stick in the frig
One bite and you'll be transported back to Camp!