"Dill Pickles" - A Legacy

Dill pickles may seem a rather odd "legacy" but the melding of Mark and Debbie into one family brought with it, oddly enough, a legacy of great dill pickles!  Both of our mothers made fabulous dill pickles - loved by all their children and grandchildren.  When we were married, I noted that both of them virtually had the same recipe.  Grandma McBeth's dill pickles had one ingredient that Grandma Christiansen's did not. Grandma Christiansen's recipe however also had one ingredient that Grandma McBeth's did not.  Just as the bible states, "and the twain shall be as one,"  speaking of husband and wife; I took it to heart and my mothers' dill pickle receipes became "one."  Our children love the pickles and put in requests for home canned dill pickles. So canning season 2011 begins with dill pickles and here are the first jars.  It is my hope that the vines stay healthy, the weather stays warm and the cucumbers abundant!  Below is the combined dill pickle receipe I use.  It is easy, fun and good eating! Some legacy!

1 quart apple cider vineger
1 quart water
1 cup rock salt
1/2 tsp. powdered alum

Boil this mixture and pour over quart wide mouth jars of cucumbers, dill, 1 clove of garlic per quart and 1/2 to 1 hot pepper (depending on your palate!)

Put on lids and bands, process for 5 minutes!

Pickles need to age for at least 1 month before eating!

For best results use small cucumbers, no longer than 4 inches.

Are YOU prejudice?

Ask me and I'll emphatically say, "No! The color of your skin, the lilt of your voice, the religon you profess, does not matter.  It is who you are and how you behave that matters to me."  . . . . . . . .  or so I thought!  I spent 5 days in San Francisco recently - a different world from my little corner of the USA.  I suddenly found myself taking Taxi cabs - alot.  Each taxi cab I rode in was driven by an individual born outside of the USA, each one was from a country in the Middle East. Each was pleasant, kind and helpful.  A couple of them in retrospect took advantage of the "out-of-towners" and drove around a few extra blocks to up their fare.  Sad to say, I was nervous each time.  "Does this person hate me because I'm an American? Would they like me obliterated because I am a Christian?"  I found it unsetteling in myself.  I think we are always disappointed to find out we're not quite the wonderful people we thought we were. In defense of myself, I am sure that the events of time and terrorists and mindless tragedies across the globe have contributed to thinking twice about whether or not we trust the individual in the front seat.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to trust the entire world? and if you ask me if I'm prejudice?  I'll try to say, "I'm trying not to be, I may think things in my head, but I would never vocalize them.'   Hmmm  next year I'll be a better person.

The Little Engine Who Could

This story was always a favorite of mine as a child.  I think because I often felt "less than" as a child, this story gave me hope that if I persisted, I could achieve whatever goal I may set.  In the ensuing years I have learned that persistence is good but that if I coupled persistence with the help of the Lord I could accomplish any good thing.  As I reflect upon my life, I see that with the help of the Lord I have been able to accomplish many good things. 

So now I have found myself caught in the "weight trap" - in applying these same two principles, perseverance and help of the Lord I can beat this trap too.  I have set a goal of 1 year to lose 20 lbs. I must be persistent and diligent in following healthy eating, cooking, living, principles.  These principles must be based upon divine counsel - which I have come to believe are the Word of Wisdom. 

Since I have wrapped myself around this cause with this focus - this quest has changed from just losing weight to living healthy - it is more positive, principle based and a concept wherein I can truly seek the guidance of the Lord as well.

The best part of it all???? I now feel happy about this goal.  It does not have the depressing burden of , "Oh I have a muffin top and can't seem to lose this fat." (FYI:  "muffin top" as defined by the picture below is now an official definition in Oxford dictionary!)

Feel free to give me help, advice, encouragement, ideas, recipes etc. 

Take a few minutes. . . .

I haven't posted for 3 months! I was gone every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 4 straight weeks. I'm not losing as much weight on "Weight Watchers" as I would like to. My life is a wreck. . . . but I have taken a few minutes to do a couple of good things. Weight Watchers has put me back onto the activity train. I have been exercising for 45-60 minutes a day. But one of the best things I have done, is to listen to the recording on www.lds.org of Elder Bednar's simple, beautiful, inspiring instruction of being an Aspostle. If you don't do anything else with your time. . . .take a few minutes and watch this. It is so tender.

Will Rogers Follies

I haven't posted, I haven't done much of anything for 2 months now except go to work and work on the play I am directing, "Will Roger's Follies, a life in Review" - to say that it has consumed my life is but s mere exaggeration. I eat, drink, sleep, dream, work, sew, order props, with the scenes, the music and dances of this production running through my head. I can't complain - as I volunteered to do this. About 15 years ago, Mark and I saw this production at the Capitol Theater. I just fell in love with it at the time and have always wanted to do it here. Oddly, for being a Broadway Musical that won 6 Tony Awards for best musical, best choreography, best costumes and on and on. Not very many people have ever seen or heard of it. Will Rogers was an icon in American history. The only person to ever speak at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in the same year. Here was an individual who was a down to earth, common man who never got past the 5th grade. Yet he wrote a newspaper colum, had a weekly radio show, movie star, vaudville star. He touched shoulders with Presidents, kings, religious leaders, as well as the common folk. In his simple, every day way he is known for a host of amazing quotes:

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there!"

"A fool and his money are soon elected."

"All I know is what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance!"

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we pay for!"

"Buy land, because they ain't making any more of it!"

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."

"I never met a man I didn't like!"

"Everybody is ignorant, just on different subjects."

"Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will go twice as far."

"I have a scheme for stopping war - No nation is allowed to enter into one until they have the last one paid off."

The play will be great and I will be glad I did it - but I won't take on a musical ever, ever, again that involves so many people, so much time, so much everything! But I love it!

Conversations from a Hospital

Jordan's room is about where you see the man on the left!

Not that I have been trying to evesdrop. . .but when you end up in waiting rooms, hospital rooms, and cafeterias you suddenly become a captive audience. . .wanting to or not. I have found these conversations most interesting. Sadly enough, most of these conversations are not happy ones. Maybe it is just because we're in a hospital and people are a bit more stressed being here. I've just been shocked that most of these talks I hear are not on a positive, building up nature. Its made me think. . .are the topics of my conversations ones which are of an edifying nature, joyous, uplifting and heart warming? Probably not! Here are some swatches of these conversations:

(Four elderly adults - all Hospital Volunteers (that's inspiring however!) - eating their lunch). Yea, I'm too old to be doing this any more, but you have to have some reason to get up in the morning, get yourself dressed and go out into the world. If I didn't have to do this, I'd never leave the house!

Then the conversation turned to their married children and the various stages of divorce/custody battles they were all in - who their children's lawyers are and was it worth their children switching to another lawyer ending in the comment: I just don't know why they both can't act like adults.

(A "couple" - unsure if they are married or not, obviously well to do). Woman: No, I do not want your father here. This is my son's day, my time with my son - you should respect me and my time and what is important to me! Man: My father is what is important to me, if he wants to be here he will be here and you will be respectful of me and my father. (They both spoke Italian as well - maybe this was some cultural thing, I don't know) So his father came in, she was solicitous to him, they all went in to talk with the doc after the son's surgery, all went up to his room, everybody "looked" and "acted" happy.

(An elderly German man, very heavy set whose wife was having surgery accompanied by his two very impatient daughters) These were repeated conversations over 2 1/2 hours of the daughters telling the dad he didn't know what he felt, he didn't know what was going on, he didn't know what his wife was going through, he wouldn't be making any decisions - and "of course we love you." These were more than loud, more than enough!

(Young man in his late 20's. My first impression of him was, he must be a doctor. He was waiting for his wife to have a relatively minor procedure for which she would need to stay over night. I believe she had a pacemaker or something similar implanted. He was in the waiting room for all of about 1 hour. The cardiologist came and they spoke in medical terms for awhile, things went well, she'll be released in the morning, she will be in recovery for just a bit and he could go to her room and wait. He left and returned about 1/2 hour later and began to behave in a very "greater than thou, I'm a doctor sort of way. (I guess I've seen too much of that in my life time!) He yelled and screamed and demanded to see his wife. He was politely told she was still in recovery and he was not allowed to go in there. I AM A PHYSICIAN, I UNDERSTAND HIPPA, I WORK IN A HOSPITAL, I WANT TO SEE MY WIFE. When he was calmly told to go back to her room and wait, she would be there shortly, he went berserk through his brief case, pounded on the elevator doors. . . .maybe its what we all feel once in awhile, just don't vocalize quite like that.

I think I will be more careful of my conversations in public.

. . . thanks dad

(This story is told in behalf of Mark, the fly fisherman!) On a beautiful day, with fly pole and rio grande king in hand, Johnson Creek called.

He fished and expert fly fisherman that he is . . . . some 36 or so could not outsmart him!

While fishing up the creek through the brush, the willows and the trees. . .

hanging over the creek are wild raspberries!

With berries in hand

He looks to heaven and smiles . . .thanks dad!

. . .and now the rest of the story. When a young man Mark, Frank and Grandpa went fishing the wee Mammoth. One would start fishing while the other 2 walked up stream. Each would leave a "flag" on the bush where they started. As you fished up to the "flag" you would take it and walk on up the creek past the other two fishermen. This way you did not fish through an area which had already been fished. Mark and Frank kept passing each other, but they didn't see Grandpa. After awhile, they decided they'd better go back and see what happened to "dad." They walked for awhile and came around the bend. There sat Grandpa, a smile on his face, and eating wild raspberries!