Wordless Wedensday *blessed*

Happy Thanks Giving to all of you Dear Readers

Works for me...Turkey soup stock (continued)

this post is continued from here "rendering your Turkey Carcass"
Remember last night with the veggies cooking and then it resting overnight out in the refrigerator out in the garage. Well I cooked them 2 more hours this morning.

Using my trusty masher ( love this old tool) I mash them part way. Just to break them up a bit.

This is an antique ricer. I love this old tool. It was discovered in an antique shop many a moon ago. Placing my Huge pop corn bowl (that was what it was always used for before Beauty got her retainer) from years pass. I will ladle in the vegetable laden broth to be riced. A blender can be used but you do not get the same broth. It would need to be strained in cheese cloth.

It removes all the fibers yet the nutrients are sustained in the base or broth. Toss all the fibers or give them to farm animals if you have them. Do not put them in your compost for there is meat mixed into it you know.

Liquid Gold!

Now if you can it or put it up then wash your jars in the dishwasher.

Some of these are recycled from a popular tomato sauce I got on clearance ( I have so many jars all sizes they are great for all sorts of uses) . There was a day, and will be again, I'm sure when I made my own spaghetti sauce. For now I am doing this:) Drinking China Green Tea with Acai (ah-sigh-EE) Berries Yum!

I use my funnel and over fill just above shoulder (I will be skimming off the fat) it will be lowered after the skim.

For example this is my yield. Do you remember the 6 cups of meat? Fill it up with broth and use a chop stick to poke it into the meat the broth will settle and then fill with a little head room . This will be frozen for use later. I use a wax china marker to label date and what is in it. the 6 cup took 1/2 QT or a pint

Now for soup. Dash requested this so I'll add His favorite things to it. My Herbes de Provence=rosemary,marjoram, thyme and savory Secrete ingredient CURRY Perfect with turkey! I also added some "Hiziki" , it is a sea Vegetable hand harvested wild (it is good for the thyroid. Green beens add the water ,but use a bowl to pour the beans in first to check that the can is pure. Many things can get in a combine. It is important if you are not canning your own to watch out for others mistakes. It would be a bad thing to pollute your soup pot. Carrots I accidentally made mine shredded (the blade was upside down on my processor) so I just went with the flow. sea salt (iodine) Later I will add the abc pasta

Remember the 5 cups of meat I trimmed from the carcass...? Well I used up the bits that are not fitting for a sandwich

Boil this a while and hour or so then add in the Pealed and diced Sweet potatoes

Just a note. I taught Beauty to stabilize her "to be" diced to items first. Saves the fingers.

You will need to skim off the top of the pot. This is the foam from the carrots and the oils.

This is the rest of the sliced meat, I poured a pint of stock over. It will mull in the refer and then... The best , most moist Lunch meat ever!

I have only 1 and 1/2 QT of stock left.
It will be used on the mashed potatoes and the gravy rendering.
Happy Thanks Giving!

Care and keeping of Leaded Crystal stemware

My Crystal stemware has a little secrete... They were seconds. That means many years ago when I purchased them I got them for .99 cents a glass. We had a wonderful old store that has many years ago gone out of business. They had a lot of seconds or imperfects.
Many people have wedding registries and such. Well for us it was a different day. Only the very wealthy did such things and weddings were more about the marriage than the wedding day. I digress...
This is leaded stem ware. Very beautiful, but if you were to look very carefully they are not perfect. Much like me and each one of us. A little slanted or misshapen. Yet to me I think they are beautiful for nothing is really perfect. For even the flawless stem ware comes with a very hefty price tag, the stress of using it for it might get broken and so there you have it.
Anyway... I wash them by hand, one at a time . Do not put them in a sink unless you have a cloth in the base of your sink. I dry them by hand over a folded bath towel . If one should happen to slip your grip the doubly folded towel will preserve it should it fall.
Never place Leaded Crystal Stem ware in the dishwasher. If they tap one another they can shatter.

Tails from the scales Weel #8 Oh the shame!

193 starting

191 week one

191 week two (at 189 on Friday) First Synvisk Injestion

193 week three Second injection

190 week four (189 peeked at me) Third Injection

192 week five

188 week six

189 week seven

192 week eight (most of it lining my colon)

Well... Wheat! Stick to the colon WHEAT! Candy! Sweet to the tooth and oh well I screwed up anyway what the heck... Candy.
Gravy(made with wheat), russets, yams, Corn bread more wheat and corn too all avoids. No walking just working here on the house and the meetings Stress. The kids had the MET for the IEP that is special needs kids educational intervention stuff. Oh! the stress and emotional roller coaster.
Shame! I just fell into the reward myself I worked so hard (with stuff that are allergy things) and the candy too. I am sad about it and posting this was no fun either!
Hubby said it is good for me. He can not have chocolate due to migraines... he thinks this a good lesson to see how the wheat makes me feel too. I have been very stiff and achy. I think he is right but it feels so familiar to beet myself up then I will have paid for my mistake. Hubby thinks the lesson is well learned so why say with being mean. Old ways die hard. I m doing better today with caring for myself. It is such a pain to have to eat stuff that no one else has too. whine~~~~~~~~~~

The care and keeping of flat ware.

This is a full set of 24 Gold toned flat ware. Looks pricey but it too has a little secrete. It also has a story for those of you who are enjoying getting to know more about me. When I was a girl like my sister before me, our Mother kept a "Hope Chest" for us. Our Mother had an "old school" heart. From many years back in the hills of Tennessee it was the way for every girl to have a trunk or hope chest to fill and dream of marriage and of her wedding day. To pretend of having her own home. It helped a girl to transition from her parents home to her own. This tradition was passed to us. My Mother often took in trade for food at the Cafe in those very early years (I was infant -5 years of age) , and then during my youth the gas stations were the prime place for barter. Could you imagine being able to trade something for fuel. Momma was raised during the Great Depression. She was beloved by her customers. So Often the things in our hope chest were barter. She had a good eye too. Once her and my Step Dad Had a fellow trading a set of flat ware much like these. My step dad got them for me. It was one of the nicest things he had ever done for me. I was a young teen ager at the time 16 maybe. They were busy about filling my hope chest for they were old and tired of being parents and looked forward to the empty nest.(it was bitter sweet for me). Well that set was gone after a thief took them long story.

So once many years ago remembering my step Dad's rare kindness I has asked God if there was a way someday if I could have them again. Well I found the two sets at a close out sale for under $20 each and had to have them. They are a treasured gift from both my real Dad (God) and the memory of what my step Dad might of been like if he had lived without such a wounded heart.

I NEVER wash them in the dishwasher they will ruin. I lost one serving spoon this way (it slipped through). They must be rinsed too because acidic foods will ruin the finish. I then place them out to drain a bit and then towel dry them. They are counted as they are put away. Folks are often accustomed to plastic and they have been thrown away. I had one fork missing so I knew to watch out for it and found it today as I was loading the dishwasher. Keeping an eye out for it it was preserved from the dishwasher.

If yours are silver there are some wonderful anti tarnish papers made by 3M

Turkey Carcass Rendering

Did you know most folks trow away the carcass of the thanks giving turkey. Well after I carve mine and set it out on the platter, I refrigerate the carcass for the next day to get the rest of the meat off of it. You will be surprised how much meat is still on there. Your hard earned dollars down the trash. A birds short lived life thrown out without the full appreciation of all that it has to give to sustain you and your family.

After the carcass is well cooled I begin my work.
Begin by removing the thighs, and slicing the meat off of it.
then remove all the waste (skin and marble of fat)
Now as you remove the easy to get to meats put the bones that have all the meat adhering to them in a big pot.
Fill your pot with good water. Boil it for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The meat will just fall off easy. Save the liquid this is a soup makers gold.

At this point I have around 5 cups of good meat for stove top meals and sliced for sandwiches as well. Put this meat up in the refer for now. (later at the end of the stock process it is a good idea to cover the meat in broth before freezing. Great soup starters or enchiladas etc.

While this is cooking cut up any left over root veggies you have. The butt from the celery (wash it) These veggies are just for flavoring and supplementing your stock. They will be tossed at the end of process. This is a basic soup stock starter. No need to peal the carrots. I have a very large white onion, 1 leek, some left over raw broccoli, the celery butt from my stuffing and an entire head of garlic heads. I take the skin off my garlic just because it makes it easier for me later.

Now I bag all this washed and coarse cut roots and such.

Put it in the ice box for later.

Cover with water as needed for it will evaporate.

See how rich it is already!

Next process. Using a slotted spoon if you have one or a tongs first for the big bones remove the bones, pull of the meat as you go if it comes easy. Set meaty bones aside. Now strain out all the meat from the broth, set aside to cool a little . (or a lot if you have tender hands). Clean off all the meat from your bones. Toss the bones in the baggie that the veggies were in. This is good practice and recycling too. As I put the meat into a plastic storage container I remove any skin, bone or blood form the meat. (I do not eat blood).

All the while now the veggies are boiling. Tomorrow I will strain out all the veggies. I will then have a very rich soup stock to use as a base for the soup that Dash requested for supper tomorrow night. I will continue the lesson then.

I rendered about 6 cups meat off the boil
and about another 5 cups meat off the slice
That is 11 cups ladies, that was not tossed out as so many do. Yes, It is a bit of work but so is driving to the office each day earning the money no one wants to throw away.
The 24 (apx) pound bird fed 23 and that is with seconds and thirds for a few. We had another 8 plates off of it too. We also made turkey enchiladas tonight with left overs. I paid $12. I think for the bird @ .49cent a pound

Oh The things we do for love...
I feel honored to have the foods set before me to prepare. When I was a child we were not so fortunate. Taken for granted are the things before us. It is often in desperation that folks stop to realize what they can do with what they have.
Why wait, stave off desperation with being a grateful partaker of all that is good. Even if it might require a little more effort. I'll tell you what, The food scientist have devised ways to offer these flavors to restaurant customers.Taste great but it is like eating poison. This is how we old school girls do it. Generation to generation.

It smells so good in here!

Tagged by Tiff

Tiff form "three peas in a pod" tagged me yesterday for seven random things about me.


1. My favorite color is purple. It is the color of the robes that were used in the old testament tabernacle. I think of it with the pomegranates on the fringe and it is so royal but in the form of worship and service. I think those two character traits are royal. My Mothers favorite color was purple too. The children often make note of it. Just this week I led the Purple group at the field trip I went on with Beauty.

2. I love Silver on me rather than gold. It really stands out on my olive completion. Copper is pretty to. I have studied color extensively. I know how to do color analysis for wardrobe and make-up. In the color pallet seasons I am a Summer with the need for mid range tones.

3. I ware very little make up. Mascara and skin tone eye shadow with a vanilla color at the brow. A little gel blush and powder foundation compact. Thats it. A little gloss with a neutral lip liner.

4. I do not like perfume because I have asthma and allergies. I can not use hairspray either for the same reason. All my products are unscented. I do however enjoy some natural essence oils.

5. For breakfast I either have a bowl of flax and whet free grains or 1 egg and green tea or ginger tea.

6. I really enjoy the quiet. I almost lost my hearing many years ago. At Mayo Clinic i was one of the first patients to under go a procedure where they took my ear off surgically and built a ear drum out of my own tissue. I had the hearing restored to my right ear. It is not real good but I am able to hear out of it. I look sign language (ASL) because I thought I might become deaf. I was left however with nerve damage and so the volume of my children physically hurts me. I will sometimes use an ear plug to stop the pain of the noise. I really enjoy how it feels in the quiet. Sometimes I cry about it a little because I really love the sounds of life they echo.

7. I really love being organized but I have to let others in my home be who they are. It is so frustrating to fix up a room only to see it undone. I have to just walk away. It takes a lot for me to face these places in my home when I know it will be so short lived for such hard work. Kids bedrooms :)

So Tiff there you have it a few more tidd-bits about me. Thanks for asking. Feel free to inquire any time.

I need to tag others... I will get back to this.

Tackle It Tuesday

Finished it! wahoo!

I got the lunch fo my beloved made the dogs fed and now it is time to wake the kids up to begin the day. I have therapy for my knee this morning for 2 hours or so. I do a good exercise work out.(The office was very slow so I was able to do my work there quickly. I had the good news that my knee ,though fatigued handled the stress well. The swelling was down and I proved I can work it and recover well. This is good news!) Lord help me I need to find a little energy today. :) (I promised a fellow knee patient that I would just stop at the store to get the only things I needed and go home and nap. Well I laid down and fell asleep hard, 10 minutes later the phone rang and no one left a message by then I was up in the kichen trying to find a hand set. I was awake... So I crafted and sewed)

First things first. I have been indulging in Avoids and so I have worked myself into a b=very bad allergic headache. That and I hit my head so hard on the bus yesterday that the teacher heard my neck crack. (I gave myself whiplash says the therapist they treated my neck with a heat pack and told me to ice at the base of my skull, can you believe it!) I have been up in pain most the night. So I got the antihistamine the immunologist gave me on board too.

Christmas is fast approching so I have aprons and many other projects in the cue.

Clothing and Christmas jammies are on the list.

for fun this little tree for table top It is a soft sculpture.

I was able to cut out and search out several projects to work on this week and next.
I will post some of them.

I have to clear this up (DONE)and redo the dining table linens. To wash ,Iron and reset the table.(Done)

I'll do a different display I think

I traded out some of the other decerations

I wanted to do it differently and with a smaller party I was able to use a larger center piece.
The pumpkin soft sculpture I made some years ago. It was a fund raiser where you meet with a group and everyone makes two and keeps one. We then sold the others to fund raise for a local adoption agency.

Not having a big buffet this arrangement fills this space with much enjoyed color!

Yet to do.

My fine flat ware is suffering too I need to tend to it.

“I am thankful to be a Christian because“

Group Writing Project

by Hopeful Spirit

Announcing the first-ever group writing project sponsored by On the Horizon, The Next Step, and Proverbs 31 Woman Wanna Be:

“I am thankful to be a Christian because . . . “

Write a post with that title and submit it no later than Tuesday, November 20, 2007, at midnight (Pacific time) by clicking here.

All entries will be collected and the link to each published at On the Horizon, The Next Step, and Proverbs 31 Woman Wanna Be on Wednesday, November 21, 2007, just in time for Thanksgiving.

One post per blog, please, but you may submit a post that you write specifically for this group project or one that you have previously published on your site. There is no minimum or maximum number of words required and, in fact, you may feel free to submit a post containing a video presentation, artwork, or other media so long as it is consistent with the theme, i.e., conveys to the reader the basis and rationale for your belief that Jesus Christ is the One true son of God and died for your sins in order that you might have eternal life. This project is open to members of any and all or no specific church or denomination. (No vulgarity, profanity or hate speech, please. The owners of the individual host sites will have discretion and the final authority regarding the appropriateness of posts to which they will link from their blogs.)

Questions? Concerns? Drop an e-mail to admin at hopefulspirit dot com!

Tami, Shalene, and I look forward to reading your wonderful thoughts about being thankful!

November 16, 2007 Update: If you have submitted a post, we apologize but must ask you to resubmit via email to hopefulspirit at comcast dot net. It appears that there is a problem with the submission form and notifications are not being received. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

“I am thankful to be a Christian because . . . “

...Because I can draw distinctions between religions and the gospel that Jesus preached. John 7:24 making right judgments about Jesus plus nothing ; Galation 1:6-9
Faith in Jesus Christ and nothing else. No law of man or rule of condemnation.

I am so thankful for a relationship that is a friendship with God. I am so very thankful to be free from the Law and have become a law unto myself through the will (God placed within me) to do what is right from within me. Freedom. Psalm 91 tells me that because "I have placed my love on Him that this is my destiny..." I have lived this for 26+ years now with a covering that has guarded me from the most fierce storms any human can encounter. My gratitude extends to the woman who years ago left an open Bible on my teller desk. The other woman who saw me the day I was selling all my belongings to go live on the street and die. It was she who opened a Bible after she fed my starving body.
It was in the spin the whirlwind of a battle over my soul that God won! Yet I know that even in my childhood He would one day set me free to live on this plane of existence. That there was more than existence but life awaiting me.
Witnessing lives dropping at my side year after year in my recovery years, it was his love reciprocal that sustained me.
Being a Christian is become a title shamed by those who live under Jesus Plus...you name it...
More wounding more rejections more condemnations and more souls left to not want to cast their love for him out of mis information grieve my heart.
The term "Christian" has been defamed defaced and a ridicule among the nations.

Jesus plus nothing. Choosing to believe that he was and is and will return to be... A hope and a love that draws the hearts to choose to pursue HIM. The soul that longs for and desired , sets their love upon him... It is they who the love of God is drawn into intimacy with. Not those who simply relate to a set of laws,rules and expectation.
Being a Christian is about loving Him, intimately relating to Him. To all of his examples and all of His ways and compassions. Being in covenant with Him and this is Love to Love Him, I can't help but love all of you.

It is Jesus plus nothing only but to love one another as he has loved us. I am thankful that it is so simply as to melt away into one simple yet profoundly disciplined act of loving my brother/sister as he has loved me. Keeping myself unstained Jesus plus nothing pulls our hearts into everything he longs for us to be.
By Donetta

Menu Plan Monday

You know it is not that easy! :)
Feast (#2 in a 6 day window) OOObaby!
What a wonderful day I have planned for Thursday.
Beauty said It has to just be perfect!:)
We love you Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jim

Thanksgiving Menu: #2

Turkey baked
corn bread stuffing
gravy
mashed russets with soy milk and lots of butter and chicken broth
corn (with butter)
green beens (with butter)
yams with orange juice,and real maple syrup (miniture march mellows)
cranberries sauce
coleslaw (MILove makes a great one)
rolls (BILove brings from a bakery )
Lemon meringue pie (MILove makes the pest!)

Arizona Rock and Mneral Museum

8 am calls to the road to school...two tired kids who need more rest...One very tired mom who is not at her best.

After dropping the kids off just before the tardy bell , I came home to see about washing my hair in the kitchen sink. Thank my sweet husband NO Dishes in the sink. Flying out the door at 8:50am I arrive to sign in at the school office to find out that the field trip is loading the bus at 9 not 9:30 as was thought! All of the third grade classes are loading as I open the door to find Beauty's Teacher unaware! She Thanks the Almighty for my arrival and tells the children to follow me...
She did a head count that I repeat moments later as we are on the buss all 23 of the children and I. She brings up the rear and we double checked the head count!
YEE Haa!
Once on the but we all breath. She gives me the forms for the treasure hunt and I copied the Answer Key. We smile at each other. The other parent helper missed the bus. It will be a very long drive for her to the city but she will have quiet. You know the thing that is unheard of on a bus with 50 children total and three brave women. (Make that 4 including the amazing driver)

Now and I, being the sage room mother of many years before my own children...Had EARPLUGS! :)
I had grabbed a baggie of Dum-Dum suckers as a happy incentive to busy mouths, however they are not allowed on the bus. The kids really had my attention and were very grateful.
We arrived without a hitch.

At first he had them contained :)
Good kids in a scoop!

We had our orientation and then we were off on our treasure hut. Mapping our way through the museum. The kids had tho find the case that held the clue and then write the answer down when they figured it out. I kept my group as a team and no one went an until the whole team had the answer written down. I had children all varying levels of abilities. Most of the kids did real well at helping each other. The stones were beautiful!

They all found the answers and took turns leading the group

Sedimentary rocks.

This was my group I took out into the museum. Beauty is in the pink. Good kids all.
They are standing behind the picket fence. A Rock and mineral table set before them. Everything is stone on the table.

Did you know the difference between a rock and a minersl.
A mineral is a single substance, a rock is made up of more than one substance.
crystals are 6 sides minerals.

Head counts to bus loading that was a lot of fun!

Oh the joy of another day with children.

Oh the joy!
When we went through the tunnel on the freeway I called out "tunnel" and all of our kids held their breath until we cleared the tunnel the whole back half of the bus was silent. Teacher and I got a real kick out of it.
The other teacher and parent helper was in the front of the bus great ladies!

One last head count Yep all there. Didn't loose a one! :)
I got home at noon. read my e-mail had a plate of left overs and slept until 2:50 when I awoke to fly out the door, pause a few moments to clear the webs and picked the kids up at the curb in perfect time.

I just finished cutting this out while I awaited the down load of all the images.
I still have the stars to cut out.
This stands up, rick rack (thank you Carrie the white you gave me in that box is perfect for it) on the back side is sandwiched between two trees and then they all all sewn together and accordion like fold up. I found this this summer when that fabric store closed down.
Christmas is fast approaching!