J. died on Wednesday. Sorry to be so blunt about it but that's pretty much how I feel - terrible and terribly blunt and raw around the edges. She's gone and I hadn't called her on Monday as I intended. I'll call after Easter. I've got these cookies to make and she's probably busy anyway. And, the pool opened last week so she's probably not home. But she was home and it was the last day I could have talked to her, to have laughed with her, to have learned the latest cool thing her son was doing, to have made plans for our annual beach vacation. My last chance to talk to her was Monday and I didn't call.


I didn't call R. right after the baby was born, either, even though she asked me to let her know as soon as I could. I'm so tired. I'll call tomorrow if we have a good night. We've got company now, it wouldn't be fair to them. I'll wait another week or so until things calm down. So I didn't learn about her attempts to conceive again or how her son and husband, K., were doing in Daddy-n-Me Soccer. I didn't hear all about the plans for the elaborate holiday celebration that R. and K. put together every year, with eggs and bunnies and homemade marshmallows.


I will never forget R. calling me in the middle of the night to tell me she had met "The One". I was cautious on her behalf, as girlfriends often are, because she'd been hurt badly in the past. I needn't have worried. K. turned out to be every bit as charming, kind and intelligent as R. said he was. K. was quick to smile and slow to anger and he totally adored her. For this, if for no other reason, he earned my respect and friendship. K. couldn't keep all of R.'s many friends straight and the first time we met he bestowed upon me the moniker "Miss Marsha from Buffalo." So I remained for 11 years. And now K. is gone.


There was no warning, no indication at all that our time with these dear, loved people was ending. K. was buried last week and Monday we head to Philly to say farewell to J. The pain is crushing and I feel as if I'm suffocating.


Please call them. Whoever "them" is for you, just call. This week I have learned this brutal lesson in the cruelest way I could have ever imagined. Just call.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/04/j.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Well, I lied.


I ended up getting consumed by another project but thinking that I still had lots of time to post the chocolate sauce recipe. I kept yawning, though, and couldn't understand why I was so tired when it was still so early. Then the baby woke up to eat and I finally looked at a clock and saw that it was one in the morning. So I fed her and we went back to bed.


It's my own fault - I should have planned my time better and been more mindful of the schedule, but I'll tell you, this daylight savings time thing is killing me. I want my hour back and I want it back now.


But that rant is for later and this is for now: Chocolate sauce. The recipe is derived from a couple that I have tried and this is a good base recipe - clear, creamy chocolate flavor, rich and deep. It's perfect for filling little tarts, spreading between the layers of a cake or just plain plopping on top of ice cream. It will never let you down. Plus, because there's nothing in it that can go bad or rot it needs no processing, just sterilized jars and lids.


Mix together 8 oz. of cocoa powder (this can be a regular grocery brand like Hershey or something fancier if you're inclined. I use a bulk cocoa from Atlantic Spice), four cups of sugar, an a quarter teaspoon of salt. Pour these thoroughly blended and non-lumpy dry ingredients into the largest stock pot you own - while the sauce is cooking it increasing geometrically in volume and you'll want to be prepared.


Next, add in the liquid ingredients one at a time: 1/4 cup maple syrup (I use B grade) and 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup. Blend into the dry ingredients so that you have a dry, grainy paste.


Over low heat, slowly add between 4 1/2 and 5 cups of water. Once all the water is added, increase the heat and bring to a boil, stirring every now and again. Once a boil is reached, reduce the heat again to the lowest you can use and still keep the sauce at a boil. Boil for 9-10 minutes, stirring frequently (you'll need a pretty long spoon for this).


Pour the sauce into hot, sterilized jars - I used pints the first time, but have now switched to have pints which is a better amount and easier for gifting - and seal with sterilized two-part lids. I sterilize my jars by either running them through the dishwasher or putting them on a rimmed baking sheet in the over. Either way, it's pretty easy and you must do one or the other (or boil them in your canning kettle). The sauce won't go bad on its own, but you can still introduce lots of nasties if you don't sterilize your storage media.


Anyway, set the lidded jars on a dishtowel to cool. After a couple hours you should start hearing the little pings that indicate the the jars are sealing and will be storable. I get about four pints total from this recipe - in half pint jars it's just the right size for Christmas stockings or Easter baskets or a hostess gifty.


Now, this is just the base recipe. I've been toying with adding a liquor to the liquid ingredients, reducing in the amount in kind from the water. So far, this has worked well and I'm testing its impact on storage. Theoretically, there should be no change in the storability, since alcohol doesn't go bad. So far I've tested both raspberry and orange liquors and they were both delicious at the jarring stage. I'll open them up in a couple weeks to see how the flavor lasts.


You can also add a quantity of a good quality, high-cocoa butter chocolate to the recipe to increase the fat content and overall deliciousness. Grate or chop a smallish bar into very small slivers and add them into the dry ingredients. When adding the liquids, stir vigorously and then when heating make sure to stir away every trace of solid chocolate. Warning: this is good but very, very rich. It's really almost too much, but a severely afflicted chocoholic might find it just right.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/04/well-i-lied.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

I remember reading - before I had children - of an interview with a well known author who was asked why her writing contained longer sentences and more complex grammar as her career progressed. The author pointed out that her career progressed at the same time as her children grew and as the kids became older she was interrupted less and less. Hence, the ability to construct longer and more complex sentences.


I don't remember who the author was, when the interview took place or where I read about it (although, for some reason, I'm thinking that Toni Morrison is in here somewhere - but I don't know if she was the author, the interviewer or was recounting the tale), but I know exactly what she meant. As I look over my last few posts I'm deeply dissatisfied with the flow, syntax, grammar, spelling, flow and transition from thought to thought. I suppose it doesn't help that I am frequently trying to type with one hand. I feel as if I have so much to say, but current circumstances are interfering with my ability to communicate clearly. So I rush from point to point, just trying to get it all out. The results are predictable - poor writing and confusing narrative. I've never appreciated the term "mommy brain" and to be living this kind of mental discord is deeply distressing to me. I hope you'll hang with me as I navigate the next few months.


I'm still planning on posting the chocolate sauce recipe today, but it will likely happen this evening after bedtime for the Boy Wonder. I'm finding that I'm more balanced emotionally if I spend the morning on household tasks, the afternoon on professional tasks and then the evening on creative pursuits. Saving the more personally rewarding activities for the mid to late evening sends me off to bed relaxed and more ready to handle the vicissitudes of infant sleep.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/04/i-remember-reading-before-i-had.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

I ended up making a few batches of chocolate sauce with minor deviations so that I could assess what different additions or deletions to the base recipe would do for me. In the end, I opted for relatively few bells and whistles and the final recipe - which I think is a keeper - will be posted here tomorrow. I promise.


We have invited several of my husband's fellow students and colleagues for Easter dinner and I am gratified that most of them have accepted the invitation. Having these guests will require some slight alterations in our traditional menu because several of them do not eat pork (so no ham) and others are vegetarian (so no meat at all). I am unsure if the vegetarians eat eggs or dairy so I have developed two menus. My husband is in charge of inquiring after the ovo-lacto angle so the final menu can be established. Each menu consists of a pasta entree - one ravioli with pesto creme and the other penne with roasted root vegetables and garlic/rosemary olive oil. The ravs would be accompanied by ginger glazed carrots and the penne with sauteed greens. Each is rounded out with field greens, relishes and foccacia. If eggs are acceptable then the traditional deviled eggs will also be on the table. Dessert will either be a mixed berry crisp or a flourless chocolate cake.


Since I despise mustard and sweet relish in any form I make my deviled eggs without and use ranch dressing instead, with lots of fresh ground black pepper and usually some kind of herb. I think theu're much tastier, but other people seem to have mixed reactions - the eggs aren't what they expect, certainly, but no one has been able to tell ne if that's good or bad.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/04/i-ended-up-making-few-batches-of.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection