Ice Crystals

Smooth ice is paradise for those who dance with expertise. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Here is my world today...

 

Moonlight

And the night shall be filled with music...And the cares that infest the day...Shall fold their tents like Arabs...And as softly steal away. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Here is my world today...

The end!

Winter World

My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness. - Michelangelo

Here is our world today...

The end!

A Winter's Breakfast (or How to Survive a Deep Freeze)

A cold wind is blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things. - George R. R. Martin

 

As news of the dropping temperature is covering headlines...I wanted to share some of my favourite foods for a cold winter morning. My mom is convinced that if you eat according to the weather...you will not feel as cold.  (Yes, she is giving me this advice from sunny Florida).  But I will say, cold mornings start better for me when they begin with warm foods.

 The Quick Whole Wheat Molasses bread is a dense, filling, lightly sweetened bread that is nice served warm with butter. The addition of fresh warm homemade ricotta and fried pears will warm your soul...and my mom guarantees...you will soon be going out in sub zero temperatures saying,"Hey! This isn't too bad.". I hope you enjoy this breakfast as much as we did.

In three parts....

Quick Whole Wheat Molasses Bread (from NY Times )

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

bake for 45-60 minutes

serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups plain yogurt

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup molasses

Directions

1. Mix all the dried ingredients in a bowl.

2. Mix all the wet ingredients together. 

3. Stir liquid into dry. Stir just until combined.

4. Bake in a greased 8x8 inch pan or a loaf pan at 325 for 45-60 minutes.  An inserted toothpick should come out clean.
5. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Fried Pears
cook on stove top : skillet
serves 6-8

Ingredients
 4 large pears
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream or milk.

Directions
1. Remove peels and cut pears into wedge shapes.

2. Melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar. Then cream. While stirring, allow the mixture to cook for about a minute. 

3.  Add pears to the hot brown sugar mixture.  Continue to cook over medium low heat until the pears are a golden brown and tender. Serve Warm. Enjoy!

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Stove top: Saucepan

Ingredients: (yields about 1-2 cups)

6 cups milk

2 cups cream

3 Tablespoons lemon juice (or vinegar)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.  Heat milk, cream and salt in a saucepan over low heat until bubbles start to form. (be careful not to let the milk boil over the pot)

2.  Add lemon juice to bubbling milk.

3.  Continue to stir until curds start to form in the hot milk and the remaining liquid begins to turn more opaque.

4.  Remove from heat source.

5. Pour currdled milk into cheese cloth or a collindar lines with a light tea towel or as a did...a fine meshed collander works and there is less clean up.

6. Let the whey drain out.  

7. Serve warm.  Warm ricotta cheese tastes great topped with honey or maple syrup. 

Enjoy and stay warm!!

And Life Runs Through It...

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.' said the cat. - Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

 The other day I overheard my father in law mentioning about my aunt. He has not seen my aunt in many years, but he still clearly remembered a conversation and was re-conveying it to a friend ... 

My aunt has cancer.  She has had it for many years.  But when asked how she dealt with her poor health, she described it as this...

  She said that she could have chosen to invest the rest of her life in a battle against cancer, but instead of fighting what she did not like and did not want, she decided to embrace what she had and what she loved. She decided to embrace life and live with cancer. 

As we begin this new year...that is how I hope to live and think too... 

There are many things in life that I do not like and focus attention on...

and so many things that I sometimes have chosen to fight...

But there is so much more that I can embrace...

 Epictetus, a Greek Philosopher, wrote, "People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take on them."

I am looking forward to 2014.  I hope you are, too!