Mother/Daughter Ear Plugs & Ear Tugs?

     This entry is purposefully written and published on the last day of the month. I want to hide it. This blog is transparent, personal, brutally honest, and is most likely for my eyes only.

     Sometimes when I dialog with others I share more than an earful of words. I ramble. My insightful "yada, yada" turns to a significance-seeking, one-way, pummeling jabber-fest. At times I am... TOO. It particularly happens with those close to me, like when I visit my oh, so patient, gentle-spirited, highly-competent, long-distance daughter and my sister-in-law.

     During my most recent extended stay, we had what I will label as our first-ever emotionally disruptive mother/ daughter blubbery word exchange. The timing was ironic, because it was right after our first-ever Mother/ Daughter banquet together.

     The banquet was an overall delight, with special people, flowers, etched glassware, and all thing pretty. On our way home, naturally I energetically chatter about the evening which segues to my one-way jabber-fest. My daughter responds with what I receive as a hurtful comment, and I over-react. We are tearful, and upon arriving to her place I plug my ears and make a quiet bee-line to my room. Talking any further, after a long and tiring day, would be an ugly, reactive, royal blubber-fest. Instead, I journal and experience a long, lonely, tearful, contemplative night.

      Fortunately, by early morning, rather than beating myself up further, this insightful and relieving thought almost knocks me out of bed: It's normal!! 

      Boing and duh! My shaken nerves are almost immediately calmed, which allows me to mentally enter into her world. We are rubbing shoulders together 24/7, her pregnancy hormones are surely piqued, and she doesn't need to deal with my ACOA (Adult Child of an Alcoholic) affirmation-seeking seriousness. My response can deepen our relationship. Thank you, Lord, for this most amazing... opportunity! 

      I head downstairs to positively "face the music," clear the air, and eat honey-nut crow. We calmly address each other's comments and that my response was TOO. We agree that our tension is "normal." The fog evaporates and the "peace pipe" is passed. After our restorative mother/daughter hug, the air smells fresher; spring flowers dance with color; sun reflections sparkle off the windows; and clouds are whiter.

     Despite severe sleep deprivation and my daughter's busy schedule, we walk on water. We are supercharged, and I prepare to cherish another rare grandson and daughter-filled day.
 
       Bonus jabber-fest: During my hours-long drive home, I reflect on my jabbering and its effect on upcoming visits. Future over-chattering is inevitable, and a respectfully-timed visual cue from my daughter might be beneficial (like vintage Carol Burnett's loving ear tug at the end of her weekly shows. She was sending a non-verbal message to her grandmother that she loved her. The story about her childhood and special ear tugs are touching.)

       Maybe I will suggest the ear tug gesture as my daughter's caring signal: I love you, Mom... but you have majorly entered into TOO-land. But, then again, maybe not!

Freezing Tips for ieeeggs & Other Unlikely Foods

      The following brief but treasured story will segue into my food freezing tips. During a recent Mother's Day visit with my daughter's family, I discovered that my young grandson remembered previous activities with long-distance, sporadic-visitor Dede, and it was in an unexpected, heartwarming way. He uniquely and specifically

Our ī-ēēēggs-tremely captivating boy

associated me with eggs (pronounced ī-ēēēggs).

      In the initial hours of my recent stay, as we gingerly re-acquainted ourselves, he randomly pointed to me and said: ieeegg. My daughter mentioned that last summer, at Christmas time, as well as during my January visit, we blended plastic ieeeggs in various play blenders. We enjoyed cracking real eggs together too (true confessions to being grandson-captivated). She said the emotional Dede/egg association somehow stuck in his mind.  Priceless!

     Speaking of price... and eggs, my organic eggs are rather pricey, so freezing them to prevent spoilage, while I'm away visiting you-know-who or on vacation, is a tempting thought. The following is a 2008 excerpt of money-saving tips titled, "Freezing Anything:"

     You can store almost any fresh food in the freezer, from sale items you stock up on to perishables you would rather not throw out before your family goes on vacation. Three important tips:

1. To avoid freezer burn, leave as little extra air in the bag or container as possible.
2. If you take a defrosting short-cut, like zapping edibles in the microwave instead of thawing them in the fridge, fully cook the food before refreezing.
3. Alternatively, if you change your mind/plans and want to refreeze raw food, you can do so if it is only partially thawed, still firm in the center, and contains ice crystals. Use it as soon as possible to minimize loss of quality.

• To freeze eggs (for up to one year), separate the white from the yolk and freeze. Yolks will need 1/8 tsp. salt per 1/4 cup yolk so they don't become sticky and gelatinous. Label the number of egg whites or yolks that are inside.
• Milk can be frozen for up to 3 months in its original container. Pour some milk off to leave room for expansion; reseal with masking tape. Shake after thawing.
• Ripe bananas, in the peel, can be frozen, stored in a freezer bag, for 8 to 12 months (the peel may discolor). 

 -Samantha Cassetty & Catherine Lo, Good Housekeeping

 September 2008, pp. 181-182.

• Freeze fresh, whole ginger. Only small amounts are needed for recipes, so cut off the portion you need and store the whole ginger in the freezer for future recipes.
• Fresh herbs, like cilantro, can be frozen. First wash and chop the cilantro, and put into an ice cube tray with water. Freeze, then eject the herb cubes into a freezer bag for ice-cold storage and future use.  -The Today Show

Sparkle University & Dishwashers

Sparkle, sparkle!

     Drinking glasses can become less sparkly as dishwashers age. Calcium build-up is possibly one of the culprits. To free your dishwasher of the build-up, use either of these products: CLR or Dishwasher Magic (I use Dishwasher Magic). These steps need to be followed in order, especially noting steps 2 & 5:

1. Empty your dishwasher of any dishes.
2. At the sink, run the tap water until it becomes HOT.
3. Select your dishwasher's "High Temp Wash" or the "Sanitize" setting.
4. Start the dishwasher....
5. The first step or cycle of many dishwashers is to drain! You need to make sure the initial draining is complete before adding CLR or Dishwasher Magic, lest it literally runs "down the drain" prior to performing its magic.
6. When you hear the dishwasher actually begin to wash, add CLR or Dishwasher Magic (refer to the package for the accurate amount and precautions).
7. For the initial treatment with stubborn build-up, run only briefly, and then stop the dishwasher to allow the solution to set (refer to package directions). Then, finish the entire cycle. For successive treatments, the set time is shortened, so refer to package directions.

     If the above steps still don't adequately produce the sparkle factor, there are three other university classes to consider:

• To improve cleaning, run the tap water until hot water comes out of your kitchen faucet. Otherwise, the water will be tepid for the first two cycles of cleaning.
• Is the rinse aid dispenser empty? If so, fill it.

          This Frugal Blogger [a/k/a FB] used to fill the rinse aid dispenser with white vinegar; but since has learned that it is hard on the rinse aid's plastic, so either fill the dispenser with regular rinse aid OR each dish load put a little white vinegar in an upward-facing more shallow glass placed on the dishwasher's top rack.

• It may help to switch your dishwasher soap. More than 2 years ago, soap manufacturers changed their formulas, omitting phosphates from their ingredients, to benefit our environment. Our environment is happier, but the sparkle factor has decreased... thus, the need for the right soap. Cascade Complete is the best option, but it is a bit pricey.

          This FB uses the cost-effective alternative: Walmart's Great Value powder.

• Refer to your dishwasher's owner's manual to learn the proper dish-loading instructions for your machine. The positioning of the various items, allowing for the soap to freely discharge from the dispenser and the water to adequately flow, makes a difference.

• Load dishes down. Make sure no pans, bowls or cups are facing upward and open. Open dishes catch dirty water, and the entire load gets repeatedly bathed in it (Tip: When a load doesn't clean, this is usually the culprit!).

• Use full-strength, white vinegar to sink-soak dingy, stubborn build-up on everyday glassware.

     Your mind is now fully loaded... with more dishwasher information than you will ever need. Enjoy the sparkle.

Freeze, Spin & Squeeze Food Tips

This salad's Butter Lettuce can replace tortillas & save calories

     The following are food tips from April 2013's Women's Health Magazine that save money and enhance cooking/ baking flavors. My favorite tip is #6 -
$?! emphasis !?$ mine:

1. Crack eggs on a flat surface rather than on the side of a bowl. The egg will crack more evenly with less shells falling into the bowl.  ?Ka -tip???

2. Creating a tasty berry vinaigrette is easy. When you have finished the contents of a jelly jar, with small amounts of jelly remaining, add even amounts of oil and vinegar, plus salt and pepper to taste. Close and shake the contents and voila.  $Ka -ching$$$

3. Marinade flank or skirt steak after grilling rather than before...for 10 minutes. The marinade will soak into the meat better.  !Ka -yum!!!

4. Instead of salt, squeeze fresh lemon onto broccoli, after cooking.  !Ka -yum!!!

5. Freeze butter when making pastry dough. Grate the frozen stick of butter into the dry ingredients. You will handle the dough less, which equals a more flaky crust.  !Ka -yum!!!

6. When making cookies from scratch, mix together cinnamon and other spices and then add that mixture to the butter and sugar when creaming (rather than to the dry flour ingredients). Fat disperses the flavors better.  !Ka -yum!!!

7. Freeze fresh, whole ginger in a freezer-safe bag. Cut off small portions for recipes and then return it to the freezer. The ginger will last longer.  $Ka -ching$$$

8. Washed lettuce needs to be spun or pat dry. Salad dressing clings better to dry leaves, and less will drip to the bottom of the bowl and be wasted...and you might end up using less dressing.  $Ka -ching$$$

And an extra bonus tip (not from WH Magazine):
9. Store tomatoes stem side down. The tomatoes will last longer.  $Ka -ching$$$

The Wonders of His Hands

 

Alvin Slaughter's "The Wonders of His Hands"
in tandem with DeRachel's 4-part cloud pictorial

      I love road trips to Tulsa. That is the setting, in November 2012, when this venturesome, amateur photographer, riding as a passenger traveling 70 mph, captured this 4-part sequence of a fiery red cloud formation (displayed in the video above and below). How could my inexpensive camera ever adequately capture nature's brilliance? 

      After months of musing at the shots and even framing them, they uncannily seemed to "speak" to me, portraying Alvin Slaughter's vintage song, The Wonders of His Hands. Thinking about God's creative wonders is a powerful way for worries and cares to disappear, for a time anyway: "...two things have I heard: that you, O God are strong, and that you, O Lord are loving” (Ps 62:11-12). 

     I need these pictures, to visually remind me of God's strength and the Lord's love.
    
     Caution: This "Behind-the-Scenes" paragraph contains bonus details, as well as left-field, over-the-edge, ethereal extras. Proceed... with care: At a conference that I helped organize, Alvin was a featured singer. I briefly met and shook hands with the larger-than-life, smiling, gifted singer. Oh, to have a shot of that late '98 encounter. Just last week I finally found my months-hidden CD and nostalgically listened to THE song. That is when He stepped in. God through his Spirit broke through time and space, and I distinctly saw His hand portrayed in my framed shots. He powerfully and unexpectedly seemed to touch and inspire me... (the jury is still out regarding that matter). Creative thought-parallels waylaid me. "My clouds" contained a barrage of phantom silhouettes, with The Wonders of His Hands lyric markers (for example, I see a large hand in each picture; and in picture 3, there is a small cross on the hill, and I see in the cloud formation a hand holding an indistinct broken heart).

     Enlargements are supplied below for further contemplation to enhance the listeners' pictorial music experience.


(:32) Morning sun...





(1:05) I'm amazed when I see...





(1:50) On a hill, on a cross...  Broken hearts...




(2:58) I'm amazed when I see....