When you come into Joshua Tree National Park it may not seem interesting or different. But once you enter the gates and you see the structures and the plant life, it will take your breath away that such strangeness exists. Life and death are so close at hand here. It starts off benign enough then transforms to these weird rock formations and plant life.
It is important to look beyond the surface and into the details of things.
Up Close and Personal
Come Close and See
Velvet Heart
“In 1945, at the age of 20, he was captured by the Soviets and incarcerated. After some years of imprisonment, he was believed to have gone insane and, therefore, was transferred to a psychiatric ward in solitary confinement, 300 miles outside of Moscow. In 2000, when the Russians were trying to empty out their prisons and psychiatric wards, they brought a Hungarian psychiatrist to examine this man.
The psychiatrist examined Stamos for a few hours and concluded, “This man is not insane. In fact, it is you who are driving him insane. He is not talking nonsense. Rather, he is speaking a rare dialect of Hungarian.” As soon as he was released, the first thing Stamos asked to see was a mirror. He had not seen himself for 55 years; he had been 20 years old when he last saw his face. Now at 75, he looked at the mirror, put his face in his hands, and sobbed uncontrollably like a little baby, because of what had happened to him. To go through most of life without knowing what you look like is nearly unimaginable to us Americans. “
Our simple freedom of looking in the mirror to see our face should not be taken for granted. Our ability to pick up the Bible and read the word of God should not be taken for granted. Life is nothing without following the Lord.
Everything tastes better with friends. Cooking or baking for friends makes it less of a chore or a duty, it becomes a joy to share. Tuesday Mornings is a time for friends and we get together and drink coffee, tea, water, whatever, eat some good foods and work on projects individually. It is a time to share experiences, joy and pleasures and sometimes pain and sorrow. My Tuesday Mornings is a life saver from ennui and stress.
Today’s offering from Tuesday Mornings:
Pre-heat oven to 425F
Makes 12
2 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp lemon or orange zest or peel diced
6 Tbsp butter
½ cup currants or cranberries or craisins
¾ cup sour cream
In a food processor:
1- Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, orange zest or peel and butter.
2- Pulse 7-8 times until mixed well.
3- Add dried fruit and sour cream.
4- Pulse a few more seconds until mixed.
5- Remove and divide in half.
6- Place in plastic wrap and roll into circle.
7- Peel off plastic and cut into 6 wedges.
8- Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
9- Bake 15-18 minutes.
Important note: Even if they do not look “done” after 18 minutes do not be tempted to bake them further. They will be perfect.
On another note, I have a tendency to keep useful things for future use. Near future. In my refrigerator is a bag of orange peels. When I need an orange sauce or syrup, when I need some orange zest or taste, I use those peels.
Below is what I used for the scones for today:
Carefully remove pulp from the orange skin if you wish.
Look for black spots or damaged skin and remove then slice thin.
Turn sliced peels and dice to bits.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup Bisquick
¼ tsp pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp diced onion
3 cloves garlic mashed
1 cup ham, diced
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
PS. Instead of ham, I sometimes use 5 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled or Italian cold cuts.
Buon appetito!