bethsblog

Amy's Pumpkin Muffins

Amy posted this recipe today.  Yumminess!

Star Date

This morning Gary and I hauled our carcasses out of bed at 4 a.m., and headed out to the Wastewater Treatment Facility where our local Community College and Astronomical Society have an observatory. By 4:45 we had the scope tracking Venus. It was the most brilliant object in the eastern sky and under 50x magnification looked like a small, very bright crescent. We also got great views of Saturn, Mars, and the Pleides. But by far, the star of the show was the Orion Nebula. Our 8" scope managed to discern some of the dusty cloud forms along with a myriad of stars, invisible to the naked eye.

By 6:45 we were chilled to the bone, and dawn was breaking. Dew was settling heavily on our equipment and clothing, making the 42 degree cold seem even colder. I tried to take a few photos of the moon as the surrounding sky was growing lighter... stole a few shots, wiping my camera lens between each one, and then we packed up our gear and headed for the warmth of a nearby Bob Evans for spinach and turkey omelets.   

When I got home I uploaded my moon shots. They were a disaster. (I didn't even try to take pictures of anything else.) Eventually, we plan to try our hand at  astrophotography, but until then, these images from Wikipedia will have to suffice. At this point we are under-equipped and under-educated to ever get such sensational shots. Enjoy!

Venus

Actually Venus (100x lens) this morning, looked more like this:

 Saturn 

But it actually looked more like this:

Mars 

And I can't lie, it actually looked sort of like this.

The  Pleides

were awesome, though under 50x (and near the moon) they appeared smaller and without the nebulosity. 

And here's our favorite, the  Orion Nebula .

Now this suberb photo is undoubtedly a "stacked" digital image... which means that multiple exposures were superimposed to illustrate the sensational colors and turbulences. The human eye, through even a very large telescope, cannot perceive such remarkable detail and color. It's astrophotography guys! Anyway, this is the image that Wikipedia liked. What we saw looked more like this, but with less color. But we were still THRILLED to be able to see the dusty turbulences, making for one of the best star dates ever! 

And here is the ever-so-lame shot I took of the moon...  last week:

But it actually looked more like this.

Someday...

"There's no hurry."

 

Emancipation Proclamation

Yesterday I had lunch with three of my neighbors.
All in their late 70's.
We got to talking about advice-giving.
One of the ladies said that she finally learned
When to keep her mouth shut.

Now, I know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff.
About as much stuff as a 52-year-old woman
Who's been around the block a few times knows.
But not as much as that lady knows.

I don't know when to keep my mouth shut.
I don't know when someone's only venting.
I try to just listen but I get to the point where my circuits overload.
And I start making suggestions.
Giving solutions.

Today I drew a line in the concrete for myself.
I'm going to stop giving unsolicited advice.
I'm going to listen and nod and say, "Oh, you poor dear".

I picture this wise old gal sitting on her mountaintop.
A seeker comes to her for the answer.
She turns the questioner on her head and asks:
"Well, what do you think the answer is?

Anyway... I'm feeling free today.
And I'm thinking that the only one I need to give advice to is me.

"There's no hurry."

Signs

Call me weird. But I notice stuff.  And sometimes the stuff seems to be telling me to pay attention.

I live on a quiet block with well-maintained older homes and yards. Neighbors know their neighbors and look out for each other. I'm about two blocks from an elementary school. For the most part it's the kind of neighborhood where you'd feel safe letting your kids walk around at night, and many folks don't lock their doors during the day. Except, things are getting a little sketchy over by the duplexes.

Twice a week I take a morning walk around my neighborhood. One of my walking routes takes me by those duplexes... they're about three blocks north... rentals with your typical scruffy yards and beat-up exteriors. Maybe 4 times over the course of the summer, I've noticed the sound of yelling coming from one of those duplexes... a man cursing at a woman... a woman screaming at a man. This morning I heard a man yelling at a small child, and I could also hear the child's loud cries. I get a bad vibe every time I pass by this particular place.

But I need to backtrack. At the dead-end where I usually turn around to head home, I saw a penny lying on the ground. I picked it up thinking: "Find a penny, pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck". Then I noticed that the penny was badly scraped and damaged. It was a 1979 penny and the only reason it caught the light was on account of the gouges and scratches. That happened before I passed the noisy duplex.

I paused in front of the duplex for a moment. More yelling man and crying child. I heard a couple thumps. Then all was quiet. I noted the address. I continued my walk, still thinking about the angry man and the small child. Then in the bike lane I saw a doll-sized pair of pink sunglasses. They too were damaged, looked like they'd been run over by a car.  I walked a little farther. I saw a small barrette... purple... like the kind my 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter wears.

Signs?

When I got home I called the police. They suggested I call Child Protective Services. I did.

"Please hurry."

"IS IT DONE YET???" SCD Baking Tips

Baking Specific Carbohydrate Diet items can be a real learning curve. I've had my successes and my flops, but bird-dog that I am, I'm not one to give up until I figure things out, so here is a compilation of stuff I've learned in the process. And I must give credit where credit's due: My daughter in her "test kitchen" in Ann Arbor is my long-distance baking buddy. We commiserate almost daily on all things SCD. Also, hearty thanks to my friend Julie, who encouraged us to take the plunge and try the diet.

One of the initial challenges was knowing when baked goods were done. At first I was producing muffins and cookies that were burned on the outside and goopy in the middle. Then I was told that the recipes in the book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle were written before the advent of digital ovens. Apparently, older ovens, when set at 350 were really closer to 325. I have found that most of the sweet recipes in BTVC bake much more evenly at 300-325... requiring maybe 10 or 15 minutes longer in the oven. (350 is still fine for savory recipes.)

And what to do when trying to manipulate the sticky, SCD doughs, since you can't flour your fingers? I've found that slightly wet fingers work splendidly for shaping SCD doughs: like shaping and smoothing the top of breads, and flattening cookies and rolls... or if you don't like to get messy, using a wet silicone spatula.

I've also had success rolling out cookie dough in the traditional fashion, on my butcher board, using almond flour to flour my hands, the board and the rolling pin. It works best when the dough has been chilled in the refrigerator for several hours.

I discovered a really neat way to simplify my weekly bread baking routine. I simply line the pan with parchment paper and the baked loaf pops right out (after it's cool enough to touch)... no need to butter the pan and it saves clean-up time!

It helps to lightly oil the cup when measuring honey... the honey slides right out. And a Pampered Chef Measure-All cup is the greatest for measuring sticky-stuff like honey and peanut butter...  This nifty gadget has an inner plunger that pushes out the contents from underneath... then a simple final scrape with a spatula, or in my case my finger, gets all the sticky yumminess into the mixing bowl!

I also swear by Pampered Chef Scoops for evenly depositing doughs and batters in their respective baking pans.

Sometimes a batter or dough might seem overly wet. Egg sizes vary and altitude can cause differences in moisture, so it's okay to add a little more almond flour...  but too much almond flour will cause an overly dense product. Also, I always pack my almond flour when measuring to make sure there are no hidden air pockets.

Egg is the glue that sticks things together. Egg is also a leavener and I have found that first lightly beating eggs, (I have them at room temp) then adding the honey, oil or butter, followed by the dry ingredients, a tendered, lighter product results.

Soda is the only other leavener allowed on the SCD and it reacts with acid ingredients (like yogurt) so adding a couple tsp. of yogurt to a recipe might make it rise better. Also be sure to store your baking soda in an airtight container.

And now for that all-important question: "Is it done yet?" In my experience, baking temperature is the most important factor, and as I mentioned before 300-325 degrees seems to be the best temperature for sweet baked goods... at least in my oven (digital/gas). You may have to experiment to find the optimal setting for your oven. Some SCD cookbooks call for oven temps as low as 300. The signs of a baked good being done as far as I'm concerned are: Springy and firm to the touch, nicely browned, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, toothpick comes out clean, and even falling a bit. (It's perfectly normal for SCD cakes to fall a little.)

Also, I've noticed that all sweet baked goods taste even better the next day!

That's all folks... for now.  I'd love your comments and suggestions!

Gotta' go bake cookies.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of all my
Turtle Soup Recipes, especially designed for the
Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ 

"Keep it simple."

Curious Joes

The other night, Gary and I watched a marvelous PBS special on John Dobson, the co-founder of Sidewalk Astronomers.  A fascinating fellow, in addition to spreading the gospel of our fabulous universe to the man on the street, he is also invented the Dobsonian Telescope Mount, which made larger scopes more affordable for the average curious Joe. 

A 92-year seasoned veteran of life and learning, here are several quotes from lips of this wise old guy:

"Once you've come to the conclusion that what you already know is all you need to know, then you have a Degree in Disinterest."

"If you figure it out for yourself, it doesn't matter who figured it out before... if you figure it out for yourself, it's your own."

"People who don't wonder about things... there's no use for them."

This past June, we two curious Joes became the proud parents of an 8" Meade telescope, and began drinking in marvelous views of our solar system, local galaxy, and deep space objects like globular clusters and Messier objects.

Messier 80 in the constellation Scorpius is located about 28,000 light years from the Sun and contains hundreds of thousands of stars.^[1]

And when it comes to the cosmos, it appears that:

"There's no hurry."

I'm back. (For now.)

Wow what a summer!  Lots of fun family visits, and travel. And it isn't over yet. Next week we'll put on our traveling shoes again when Gary and I head to a seminar in Las Vegas, followed by a tour of Southwest Utah including Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. 

You might wonder how following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet has worked for me, while away from home. Well, it's gone great, but remember, I am only doing the diet voluntarily, in cahoots with my daughter who has Crohn's, and I don't obsess over small amounts of sugar or starch that might be in things like salad dressings in restaurants, so any of you out there who must follow the SCD to the letter, please don't take this post as any sort of advice. I am not a total purist, I indulge in  ice cream in small quantities, and also bits of dark chocolate. (True confessions!) The refined sugar in these items doesn't seem to irritate me and they're probably low enough in lactose because they do not give me a gas attack, which is my only gut complaint, exacerbated by things like onions, peppers, melons, and cruciferous veggies.

I'm happy to report that my general inflammation levels are great and I've had no arthritis pain for months. Stair climbing is a breeze, I handled the 14 hours of walking in Madison at Stephen's Ironman with nothing more than a sore ankle, (another story for another day.) and I anticipate many enjoyable hikes when we get out to Utah!

But back to travel: so far, it's all been by car, so I've packed a cooler with SCD essentials, but next week's trip will be by plane, so I plan to take enough SCD muffins, scones and Lara Bars in my carry-on to get me through. Then we'll stop at a grocery and get one of those Styrofoam coolers to go in our rental car and purchase the food items that I usually travel with: cheese, apples, bananas, dates, nuts, raisins, baby carrots, tomato juice, orange juice, and peanut butter.

On our other travels I did well in restaurants too.  Breakfast: eggs, bacon, fresh fruit or tomato. Lunch: Subway and an SCD muffin, (they'll make any sandwich into a salad, and remember I don't have to worry about small amounts of sugar/starch that might be in cold cuts or salad dressings.) or a picnic from the cooler. Dinner: a grilled or broiled serving of meat, chicken or fish, a fresh cooked vegetable, and a tossed salad. Sometimes ice cream for dessert. (Sorry.)

So the upcoming travel poses few food worries. Previous trips have helped me find a routine that works for me and I'm not intimidated by the limitations that my version of the SCD requires. As I said before, I'm not a purest, but those who follow the SCD to the letter, with a little creativity and determination can and should be able to travel too.

"There's no hurry."

Blog-cation

I'll be off line for the rest of the week... taking a jaunt to Ann Arbor to help my sister-in-law who is recuperating from surgery and to spend a little time with granddaughter Sophia and her folks.

"There's no hurry."

"Matzo" Balls

In both taste and texture, these are very much like the real thing!

SCD Mini "Matzo" Balls  serves 2

One egg, well beaten
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. onion powder
dash black pepper
almond flour

Beat together egg and seasonings. 
Add almond flour, stirring in a spoonful at a time until the mixture is the consistency of play-doh...
Pinch off small globs of dough and roll between palms of hands into balls the size of small marbles.
Meanwhile fill a 1-quart saucepan 1/2 full with salted water or stock and bring to a gently bubbling boil. 
Drop the dough balls into the bubbling liquid. They will sink to the bottom, then float to the top.
Simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. 
Serve immediately or scoop out with a slotted spoon to cool on layers of paper towels. 
Refrigerate for later use.  Can also be frozen.

Click here for information on how you can get a copy of this beautiful Turtle Soup Cookbook Cover and a set of printer-friendly recipes.

"Keep it simple."

Souvenir

I didn't buy any souvenirs when I was in Madison, for Stephen's IRONMAN triathlon. I mean, you could get anything you wanted from hats, to tee shirts, to shoe laces. With all the rushing from venue to venue I plum forgot. 

At the end of the day, when Stephen was recuperating in the medic tent, and I was off to the motel to put my exhausted 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter to bed, purchasing a souvenir was the last thing on my mind.

Yesterday, the weather was just like IRONMAN day. While I was taking my 2 mile stroll I was wondering how long it would take me to walk 26.4 miles.

Then I saw it. By the side of the road. A little lump of something shiny... I picked it up. It was a roundish, piece of metal... there is a casting plant nearby and trucks full of scrap metal rumble up and down that road all day...  It was a little beat up from being tumbled around, and a little rough around the edges but all the same it was beautiful.

And since it passed the magnet test, there's a good chance it contains IRON!

"There's no hurry."

The MAN!

This morning, Stephen posted the first in a series of reports on his IRONMAN saga: IMoo The Swim.  Here's an image I copped from his site, taken by his in-a-motherly-way wife, my daughter, Amy.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Stephen just happened to be nearby as we walked past the swim-start area on the way to our spectator positions high atop Monona Terrace. Amy and family were so glad to be able to wish him well as he started on his adventure!

I'm still thrilled about the IRONMAN and Stephen's fantastic accomplishment! 

I also must say that the kids... my 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter, Sophia and her cousins, Clair and Eddie were amazing little troopers during the long, long day of mostly hurry-up-and-wait. Understand that these kids have been in training at events all summer as Stephen, Auntie Allison and Uncle Doug raced on foot, water, and bike. The day after the IRONMAN, Sophia was running back and forth in her parent's motel room pretending she was in the IRONMAN, and later, as Sophia and I were checking out the hotel's fish tank, (while her exhausted mom and dad were grabbing 40 winks) she exclaimed," I miss the IRONMAN!

"There's no hurry."

Pretty Please?

Yes, the net loves lists... so Seth! I'm begging you...  When you have a little spare time which is probably never, would you create a category list in your sidebar so we can sort through your posts more efficiently? Pretty please?

"There's no hurry."

IRONMAN!

Gary and I returned last night from our adventure in Madison, WI, after cheering Stephen on during his long awaited IRONMAN. He did especially well in the 2.4 mile swim, breezed though the hills and dales of the 112 mile bike ride... in spite of a flat tire, and reached down deep to persevere during the 26.2 mile run... through nausea and dehydration, to finish the whole shebang in just a smidgen over 14 hours. Congratulations, Stephen, on a job well done! YOU ARE AMAZING!  Here are a couple stock shots from the official site.

Waiting for the swim start at Monona Terrace... we are somewhere in that throng.

The IRONMAN swim start has been likened to being in a washing machine. Stephen is probably not in this picture since he reported that he was near the front of the pack!

From the viewpoint of a spectator, it was one of the most exciting and exhausting things I have ever attended. There were over 2000 participants ages 18-78. Among the tens of thousands of screaming fans... we, Stephen's faithful fan club, (3 kids in strollers, 3 grandparents, 3 parents, an aunt and an uncle) spent all 14 of those hours either standing vigilantly waiting for a view of Stephen, (more cowbell!) or dashing madly to the next viewing vantage point either by shuttle (to the bike venue in Verona), or by foot through the crowded Madison streets (during the marathon) hauling backpacks and taking turns pushing the kid's in strollers. But no matter how tired we felt, we all knew that it was so important to be there to support the athletes... what they were enduring was far more difficult! Plus, whenever I felt my energy flagging, I'd be recharged by an ecstatic runner high-fiving the fans! The huge energy exchange between the athletes and the spectators was palpable. It was such a ROCK CONCERT!

It was great to have Stephen's sister, Allison, there to shepherd us.  She knew the route and where we would be most likely to see him. We caught one fleeting view of Stephen on his bike in Verona, and maybe 4 views as he passed by us during the marathon. 

I'm in recovery mode today, still pretty tired from all that intensity. (So nice to be back to my quiet and simple life.) In spite of the fatigue and the day or two it will take me to recover, I'm extremely glad I went. It was so worth it!

Here's one more shot taken before the swim by one of the official photographers... me wishing Stephen well about an hour before the swim start... still dark out... about 6:00 a.m.

As soon as Stephen gets to it he'll undoubtedly post his own impressions and photos. Keep an eye on his site for the full report.

In the mean time:

"There's no hurry."

Blog Break

I'll be off-line for the next several days, attending the long awaited and much anticipated  IRONMAN Wisconsin, to cheer-on my son-in-law, Stephen, along with the family fan club. Go Steve Go!

Stephen, just after finishing the Grand Haven Triathlon, July, 2007.

"There's no hurry."

Going with the Flow

I love days where I can move along in non-structured bliss, eating when hungry, exercising when I get around to it, doing my chores in a random whatever-I feel-like-at-the-moment mode, putting a batch of muffins or bread in the oven when the urge hits, and fitting a couple writing or art-making sessions in between loads of laundry.   

In a few short weeks, it'll be time to let go of the "Life of Riley" I've been leading all summer... time to clear away most of the evidence of what has been a delightful summer of cluttered productivity to make room for student work.

I won't be able to sit around in my sweats all day writing and painting, eating lunch at 2:00, and then thinking I'd better take a shower before Gary gets home from the office if I want to present at least an illusion of respectability. At least not on the days that I'm teaching, but I'll try to keep going with the flow when I can, and even within the structure look for opportunities to be spontaneous.

"There's no hurry."

All I ever needed to know I learned at the Pow-wow.

Yesterday, I attended my first Pow-Wow. It was a beautiful day, with beautiful weather, beautiful people in beautiful regalia, doing beautiful dances to beautiful music. I was entranced. There were little children dancing, great grandparents dancing, young women and men dancing, each with their own original style, and all participants and onlookers were celebrated and accepted, from the shuffling elders to the bouncing small fry. 

I bought a program for the event and inside was information on the proper conduct at a Pow-Wow: when to stand, when to sit, when to take hats off, and the proper terminology... for instance the Native American Dance garments are not to be referred to as "costumes" but as "regalia".

"Ornaments have special meaning and the hand-made regalia, which can cost thousands of dollars are cherished for having been made in part or whole by particular respected family members. Some regalia has been handed down through the generations and is precious to the wearer and family."

"Pointing with the finger, particularly with the index finger is considered impolite, it is best to indicate a person by pursing the lips and pointing with the eyes or with a head nod in the direction."

"Singers should never leave a drum unattended. Nothing should be set on the drum nor should anyone reach across it. All drums are treated with the highest respect for what they represent, The Heart Beat of Mother Earth."

"When an Eagle Feather falls to the ground, the Pow-Wow stops until it has been properly retrieved and returned to its owner. This is an extremely important and sacred tradition. The Eagle Feather represents the spirit of a fallen warrior and only distinguished warriors have the right to wear it. Historically and traditionally it is the right of any warrior (veteran) who has been wounded to retrieve a fallen Eagle Feather. The modern Pow-Wow uses four veterans to retrieve a fallen Eagle Feather. The closest equivalent of an Eagle Feather in modern society would be a Silver Star or Navy Cross or Congressional Medal of Honor."

In the middle of the program was a list of the Indian 10 Commandments:

Remain Close to the Great Spirit.
Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.
Show great respect for your elders.
Work together for the benefit of all mankind.
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
Do what you know to be right.
Look after the wellbeing of the mind and body.
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
Be truthful and honest at all times.
Take full responsibility for your actions.

"There's no hurry."

"Hard" Work

When showing my art to students and friends, I often get the comment: "Wow! You really must have worked hard on that," or "How long did that take? That looks like it was really hard." And my response is "Well, it did take a long time, but there's a difference between long and hard... now brain surgery... in my book that's hard".  Seth Godin tackles this topic in his usual, insightful way in today's post, Labor Day. 

I always say, "If you can find your passion and then figure out a way to get paid for it... that's the greatest!

"There's no hurry."