Kitchen Creativity

Cooking has always been a passion...from a very young age I can remember watching Mom in the kitchen, creating magic out of thin air budgets. Not just Irish Chili, either!

Passions  by rcw

Mom is where I learned to cook turkeys in paper bags, she's also the one who taught me not to be afraid to try new things.  Mrs. Schlosser, my home-ec teacher in public school finished the job, but Mom was the one who got me started on my culinary path.
Some day I want to write a cook book and when I do, I'll dedicate it to these two women.

I loved it around the holidays, when the house was full of spices and surprises.  Our kitchen was small...called a "galley" kitchen, which meant one long thin room with all the appliances against one wall.  It could fit more than one person at a time, providing both weren't trying to use the same appliances at the same time!  And we weren't small people, so things got extra cozy.

But somehow we managed.  The men and boys stayed, wisely, in the living room; their attention torn between football and finger food but they knew not to make a mess. Mom was a believer in coasters, napkins and the like, and didn't cotton to food fights or carpet stains.

To this day, Mom can be counted on for her famous potato salad, cole slaw, turkey or what ever else may be needed.  When ever I'm home, I ask her to please make me some Irish Chili...though I've come close, nobody does it quite like her..

Anyway, for the next month, I'll be practically living in our kitchen...creating cookies and breads for gifts, making turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas plus making lasagna for Jack's family celebration on 12/24.
I love this time of year!

So for today, Fifty Five is the new Kitchen Creativity....and it's onward to Bourbon Cookies, Apple Pies and other tasty treats!

Thoughts On Camping

Sure wish we were camping....oh, maybe not in this weather, but I mean if it were summer that's where I want to be.  Last time we went to Bear Creek, we had such a good time.

Randi at Bear Creek 2009

I don't mind the bugs too much; we put a bee tray (with some honeyed tea in it) off to one side and that keeps them from coming after me.  Mosquitoes are another thing all together.   Those mosquito candles help...and those coils too, but I wonder how they are in the environment?  I'd sure like to find something that works without harming the rest of the world.

Maybe we'll save up and get one of those screen tents....that could work.

Anyway, the important things about camping are the quiet....and the nature noises, no phones-not possible in the particular gully where we go-and believe it or not, all the things like building a fire, cooking out doors....I love all that.  Because after a long day of it all, there's the chance to put up one's feet, look up at the sky and see every star while listening to the wood crackling in the firepit.  Now that's living!

For today, Fifty Five Is The New Thoughts on Camping....can't wait to do it again!

Scientists

To Be  by rcw  (added 1/17/2011)

Life is such a mystery...and here we are, explorers all, learning about it "on the job" so to speak.  We start out as little clean slates that our experiences write upon every second we exist.  Where does all that knowledge go when we die?

Is it sent on to the great Cosmos in real time, as the experiences are occurring...or stored up in our brains somewhere to be released to It as we breathe our last mortal breath? I wonder. Or does it just go away like an old graveyard, moved to put in a shopping mall?

I think in some way, our knowledge becomes part of a whole Kind of like the SETI program; all these little components sending their version of what's going on back to a source for study.  Gee....gives one a new way view the common, every day file sharing!

And who's to say this can't be so?  That our reasons for being, vast as they may seem, are based on the common goal of uploading our individual files to that massive main frame (if that's even what they're called these days) for further study and comparison....hmm.

Where's Isac Asimov when ya need him?

Alright.  Let's play with the verbiage here just a bit and see if we can make it more palatable.

We are all born with both commonalities and unique qualities.  Just like everything else in creation if genetics is the fractal equation I believe it to be.  Everything experiences its own existence, interacts with others' existences and takes on the effects of these experiences, from being born through death. These things are stored in memory, and reviewed periodically.

What happens in death? The body dies.  Some say that's the end of it. Some say our spirits move on to a new life, or to our reward or to that most famous waiting room....Purgatory.   Of course there are those who've been promised virgins in heaven; although on behalf of women's rights everywhere I ask you-if they get virgins, what do women get?  And don't tell me we get to be one of the It Girls in the Afterlife, 'cos I'm not buying it! Don't sound like heaven to me!

Anyway, not meaning to offend anybody, but puuuleeeeezzzze!

Let's get back to basics.  What does everything have in common? Energy.
Energy has an interesting characteristic...It is.  Energy can be kenetic or potential, used or stored. But it cannot be destroyed.  It cannot be created either, because even if it is not perceived as being "active," it is still present.

Who or What does that sound like? (Note the capital letters on the who/what bit?)  If you picked any name indicating a Source, Supreme Being, Maker or What Ever you wish to assign said Possibility then give yourself a pat on the back.

This Source, etc, Is. Always Was, Always Will Be....we are part of All That. We come from There, and it is most humbling to feel that connection with the All because it also means we are all connected, too.  From our genetics down to our fingerprints, through our memories and beyond our dreams, we are all intertwined for some Purpose greater than ourselves.

What could that Purpose possibly be? 

Being.

It's a very good place to start.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Scientist, because that's what we are...under neath all the trappings we are experimenting....learning as we go along, and I have faith that something this intricately beautiful was put here for a Purpose.  And that Purpose is To BE.

Wave

Passions by rcw

Been a couple of days.

Sometimes love is the hardest emotion.  Sometimes it's just so deep, it hurts like nothing else possibly can. This should be no surprise, because in the state of love we are most vulnerable.

I know people who've been so intensely in love, that when the partner leaves or dies they are completely devastated. They fall apart and are never the same.  They turn off that switch inside, you know the one....the one that opens the heart and mind to wonderful potential and invites the universe in for a visit.

They cringe at the mere thought of allowing any more closeness, citing "too much pain," "not worth the hassle" and "if I was supposed to be with somebody, I'd be with them by now," or "once you've had the best, nothing else matters."

I understand their sentiments.

My love is truly an all-encompassing one, effecting mind, body and spirit equally. Jack and I have been together long enough to qualify for "aging married couple" status, although we are not wed.  We are used to each others' snores, belches and so on...and have,  for the most part, grown accepting of each one's  short comings.

That's not to say we are perfect, for we are not. But for the most part we manage to get over the rough spots unscathed, relationship intact.

Love isn't a smooth ride, but it is a sweet one.  It's like catching a wave in an ocean you've never been...feeling the board chutter and buck beneath your feet 'til you get your balance.  It can go a lot of different ways from that moment...you can be tossed off your board or ride through the tube, and those are just two scenarios.  Like surfing, you run risks....the coral, sharks, other surfers, your own board....and like surfing, you experience incredibly beautiful things too....the waves, the sky, the sensations of going through a fully formed tube.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Wave....surf's up! Let's Ride!

Living End

It's getting close to the new year....this year, 2010, has been something.....lots of natural disasters and revolutions...abroad and on the homefront.

Some people are calling these the End Times.  Bible preachers are having a field day, predicting the Date of the Final Coming, pointing out the Anti Christ, threatening Hell and Damnation for anyone not getting on their knees to Believe.

I'll admit the Gulf Disaster, Tsunami, Earthquake and War stuff are good arguments in favor of the End of the World. 

How do I feel about it?  Quite frankly, I don't really care too much.  If it's going to end soon, so be it. Gotta happen sometime, I mean everything has a shelf life....even our existence on this planet.  Does it worry me?
Not really.  I don't want it to hurt, but that's only human.  Most people don't like pain.

There are some who do....and they ought to enjoy the HELL out of the end when it comes.

So for tonight, Fifty Five Is The New Living End.....if that's what we're doing, let's do it to the hilt!

Question

It's so late that it's actually early in the morning; 4:20 a.m. to be exact. I've been awake, baking all night....some for Jack's birthday-which is now upon us!-and some for our dear friends Jan and Vincent.  They're in Sacramento over Sunday and Monday, so we are taking the opportunity to get together.They live in Dunsmuir, CA and we've visited them up there...beautiful country!

We've seen or heard from a lot of old friends recently....seems lots of people have the idea that changes are coming, and are trying to re-connect with one another. We're stocking up on staples like flour, coffee, sugar and so on....not in fear, but in preparation. 

I have a feeling it's gonna get a bit worse before it gets better.

The President went overseas to talk with the leaders of India, China, Korea, Japan and a few other places...
trying to drum up or make trade agreements that include some of the United States' interests.  He didn't get very far; apparently a great deal of the world thinks we're contemptible.

At a recent international summit on human rights issues, the United States was publicly flogged by a host of dignitaries, including or own Secretary of State.  Of course, America's been labeled Great Satan number one for years on the Jihad Hit Parade and is called the Great Whore of Babylon by several religious sects both foreign and domestic.

There's an idea floating about that the world should have a say in our government....even to the point of a seat in Congress.  When I first heard this, I thought...do we have seats in other governments? There are arguments saying that we've overtaken countries so it's the same thing.   No. Not really.

Our Constitution is not written for a global scenario.

I agree that the world has changed and that every nation is intertwined through things like trade, defense, etc.
BUT...there needs to be a way to include the unique nature of each culture in order to preserve what is good about our species.

Anyway.....that's my opinion at too early in the morning to be thinking about such things, but there you go.

For today, Fifty five is the new question....Where are we going? 
I wonder.