Thursday, July 4, 2013
Just To Bug You ...
Just a bit of news to bug (pun intended!) you about your 4th of July menu today.
Did anyone see the front-page article in the Wichita Eagle on Thursday (June 27,2013)? "Insects may be what's for dinner, says panel", by Kevin Thibodeaux (McClatchy Washington Bureau). "They're creepy. They're crawly. And they could be on your menu.", the article starts out.
"A panel of experts discussed Wednesday how insects could be used as a food source for a world population estimated to reach 8 billion by 2025. Guests then were treated ("treated" doesn't quite seem the right word for me) to a taste test of insect cuisine."
In the article, Daniella Martin, "a bug blogger for her own website, GirlMeetsBug.com, says, 'This was not something (eating bugs) that someone just decided to experiment with, this is something societies have been surviving off of.' "
The key word there, for me, is "surviving" ... if I eat bugs and worms it will HAVE to be if I am ever in a "surviving" situation - NOT at a dinner party. Only to survive. NEVER, EVER except to survive. Survival only.
The article's author continues, "Martin's blog discusses recipes for cooking some of these insects, including instructions on making meals like caramel apples covered in mealworms (my skin is crawling), cabbage, snap peas and crickets (I prefer cabbage, snap peas and onions); and a 'bee-LT' sandwich made with fried bee larvae (oh, my gosh, I almost passed out the other day when I saw a maggot in the compost bucket and she suggests we EAT it...I'll stick to the old bacon-lettuce-tomato version)."
"Visitors at the embassy were treated to chips and quacamole topped with crickets; pancakes with mealworms baked inside; and fresh asparagus skewered with cicadas." And to think .... all these years I've been picking those things OFF of our fresh veggies and dumping any pancake flour that had a worm in it. What could I have been thinking? (Glad I wasn't invited to THAT embassy dinner.)
Just in case you thought you were safe, 'cause YOU have enough sense to never ever go NEAR such cuisine (unless, again, you ARE in 'survival' mode), I feel I MUST share THIS paragraph with you also:
"Processed foods, including tomato soup, ketchup and peanut butter, have bug parts in them. In addition, natural dyes used in certain foods like M & M's are made from bugs."
Oh, what deception we find in our grocery aisles. Sad. Sad. Sad. Another reason ... a GREAT BIG reason to AVOID processed foods. And here I thought that the times someone has found a bug in the can was because it FELL in by accident, NOT that it was part of the ingredient list and managed to survive!!!! BUG DYE on my M & M's? Who'd a thought? BUG PARTS in that tomato soup, ketchup and peanut butter? Oh, PLEASE say it's not so, 'cause my insides are turning and churning just thinking about all the ketchup and peanut butter I've eaten (but I've always mostly made my own tomato soup, thank goodness!).
Well...there you have it. Definitely news to bug us. To contemplate and chew over in our minds.
I am grateful for Mr. Kevin Thibodeaux for writing this article; for showing me what exotic ingredients may be ground up (or, still crawling) in some of my everyday foods, though I am also, thanks to his article, about to throw up. Before I do, let me leave you with this question:
"Are you putting KETCHUP on those hot dogs and hamburgers today?!"
Did anyone see the front-page article in the Wichita Eagle on Thursday (June 27,2013)? "Insects may be what's for dinner, says panel", by Kevin Thibodeaux (McClatchy Washington Bureau). "They're creepy. They're crawly. And they could be on your menu.", the article starts out.
"A panel of experts discussed Wednesday how insects could be used as a food source for a world population estimated to reach 8 billion by 2025. Guests then were treated ("treated" doesn't quite seem the right word for me) to a taste test of insect cuisine."
In the article, Daniella Martin, "a bug blogger for her own website, GirlMeetsBug.com, says, 'This was not something (eating bugs) that someone just decided to experiment with, this is something societies have been surviving off of.' "
The key word there, for me, is "surviving" ... if I eat bugs and worms it will HAVE to be if I am ever in a "surviving" situation - NOT at a dinner party. Only to survive. NEVER, EVER except to survive. Survival only.
The article's author continues, "Martin's blog discusses recipes for cooking some of these insects, including instructions on making meals like caramel apples covered in mealworms (my skin is crawling), cabbage, snap peas and crickets (I prefer cabbage, snap peas and onions); and a 'bee-LT' sandwich made with fried bee larvae (oh, my gosh, I almost passed out the other day when I saw a maggot in the compost bucket and she suggests we EAT it...I'll stick to the old bacon-lettuce-tomato version)."
"Visitors at the embassy were treated to chips and quacamole topped with crickets; pancakes with mealworms baked inside; and fresh asparagus skewered with cicadas." And to think .... all these years I've been picking those things OFF of our fresh veggies and dumping any pancake flour that had a worm in it. What could I have been thinking? (Glad I wasn't invited to THAT embassy dinner.)
Just in case you thought you were safe, 'cause YOU have enough sense to never ever go NEAR such cuisine (unless, again, you ARE in 'survival' mode), I feel I MUST share THIS paragraph with you also:
"Processed foods, including tomato soup, ketchup and peanut butter, have bug parts in them. In addition, natural dyes used in certain foods like M & M's are made from bugs."
Oh, what deception we find in our grocery aisles. Sad. Sad. Sad. Another reason ... a GREAT BIG reason to AVOID processed foods. And here I thought that the times someone has found a bug in the can was because it FELL in by accident, NOT that it was part of the ingredient list and managed to survive!!!! BUG DYE on my M & M's? Who'd a thought? BUG PARTS in that tomato soup, ketchup and peanut butter? Oh, PLEASE say it's not so, 'cause my insides are turning and churning just thinking about all the ketchup and peanut butter I've eaten (but I've always mostly made my own tomato soup, thank goodness!).
Well...there you have it. Definitely news to bug us. To contemplate and chew over in our minds.
I am grateful for Mr. Kevin Thibodeaux for writing this article; for showing me what exotic ingredients may be ground up (or, still crawling) in some of my everyday foods, though I am also, thanks to his article, about to throw up. Before I do, let me leave you with this question:
"Are you putting KETCHUP on those hot dogs and hamburgers today?!"
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
We Are Mothers
We Are Mothers
by Sandra Carol Mers Clayton (Notes) on Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 3:09am
Mothers.
We come in all shapes and sizes. We are all ages. We are of many
different personalities. We are of different cultures. We are different
colors.
We are mothers. We are alike.
We wipe noses. We change diapers. We bandage knees. We wipe away tears. We dispense loads of hugs and kisses. We read stories, lots of stories ... over and over and over again. We fix snacks, lunches, suppers. We say "yes", we say "no", we say "maybe", we say "because I said so". We make birthday cakes. We set rules and curfews. We talk "at" ... discuss ...listen. We help with homework. We laugh at "unfunny" jokes. We lovingly accept wilted dandelion and buttercup bouquets from grimy little hands. We wait with anxious hearts for safe returns from first dates. We bravely wave good-bye at first-days of kindergarten, wipe away tears at high school graduations and bravely wave good-bye again at first-days of college. We do laundry. We search for stray socks...tiny ones, middle-sized ones, large ones. We bathe tiny toes and smudgy little faces. We brush curls and paste down unruly hair licks. We sit up nights cleaning up vomit, anointing fevered foreheads with cool cloths, giving sips of cold juice or 7-Up or orange juice or water. We fish rocks, pennies, sticky candy and squishy bugs from pockets before throwing clothes into the machine. We rock through the night, singing lullabies. We grieve the loss of, and attend the funerals of, pet rabbits, hamsters, dogs, cats, and guinea pigs. We fold tiny clothes, medium-sized clothes and, finally, adult-sized clothes and wonder where the years went.
We are mothers. We are alike.
We are Christian mothers who pray fervently for wisdom. We teach our children the things of God and urge them to keep on God's path. We ask God to keep them safe day by day, year by year. We take our children to church. We tell them how much Jesus loves them and of His great sacrifice for our redemption. We explain redemption, sin, forgiveness. We sing "Jesus Loves Me". We read the Bible to them; with them. We pray they will seek and find God themselves, knowing faith must become their faith ... their own faith ... not ours.
Yes, we are mothers. Yes, we are so much alike - wherever we are, whatever our culture, no matter our size or color or personality.
We are mothers who love our children. Who are so grateful to God that we have children. We are mothers and don't take for granted the love of our children.
We are mothers who, because of the very love of God Himself, can put our children ahead of ourselves, love them "no matter what". Love them as babies, love them as small children, love them as teens and as adults. Unconditionally. No matter their mistakes, their sins - just as God loves us. Just as we wish our children to love us.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all thinks, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
(the Bible: I Corinthians 13:4-8(a)/NKJV)
We are mothers. We are alike.
We are mothers. We are alike.
We wipe noses. We change diapers. We bandage knees. We wipe away tears. We dispense loads of hugs and kisses. We read stories, lots of stories ... over and over and over again. We fix snacks, lunches, suppers. We say "yes", we say "no", we say "maybe", we say "because I said so". We make birthday cakes. We set rules and curfews. We talk "at" ... discuss ...listen. We help with homework. We laugh at "unfunny" jokes. We lovingly accept wilted dandelion and buttercup bouquets from grimy little hands. We wait with anxious hearts for safe returns from first dates. We bravely wave good-bye at first-days of kindergarten, wipe away tears at high school graduations and bravely wave good-bye again at first-days of college. We do laundry. We search for stray socks...tiny ones, middle-sized ones, large ones. We bathe tiny toes and smudgy little faces. We brush curls and paste down unruly hair licks. We sit up nights cleaning up vomit, anointing fevered foreheads with cool cloths, giving sips of cold juice or 7-Up or orange juice or water. We fish rocks, pennies, sticky candy and squishy bugs from pockets before throwing clothes into the machine. We rock through the night, singing lullabies. We grieve the loss of, and attend the funerals of, pet rabbits, hamsters, dogs, cats, and guinea pigs. We fold tiny clothes, medium-sized clothes and, finally, adult-sized clothes and wonder where the years went.
We are mothers. We are alike.
We are Christian mothers who pray fervently for wisdom. We teach our children the things of God and urge them to keep on God's path. We ask God to keep them safe day by day, year by year. We take our children to church. We tell them how much Jesus loves them and of His great sacrifice for our redemption. We explain redemption, sin, forgiveness. We sing "Jesus Loves Me". We read the Bible to them; with them. We pray they will seek and find God themselves, knowing faith must become their faith ... their own faith ... not ours.
Yes, we are mothers. Yes, we are so much alike - wherever we are, whatever our culture, no matter our size or color or personality.
We are mothers who love our children. Who are so grateful to God that we have children. We are mothers and don't take for granted the love of our children.
We are mothers who, because of the very love of God Himself, can put our children ahead of ourselves, love them "no matter what". Love them as babies, love them as small children, love them as teens and as adults. Unconditionally. No matter their mistakes, their sins - just as God loves us. Just as we wish our children to love us.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all thinks, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
(the Bible: I Corinthians 13:4-8(a)/NKJV)
We are mothers. We are alike.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Woman's T-Shirt/Christmas from Zazzle.com
Woman's T-Shirt/Christmas from Zazzle.com
Woman's long-sleeve red cotton t-shirt (available in other styles, colors and prices) with white lettering on the front that says "Merry Christmas" in 7 different languages. Want to learn "Merry Christmas" in another language? :)
Woman's long-sleeve red cotton t-shirt (available in other styles, colors and prices) with white lettering on the front that says "Merry Christmas" in 7 different languages. Want to learn "Merry Christmas" in another language? :)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Poster/English Bulldog from Zazzle.com
Poster/English Bulldog from Zazzle.com
Wonderful poster of "Sullivan" the English Bulldog! Available in different sizes, papers and prices. Come see!
Wonderful poster of "Sullivan" the English Bulldog! Available in different sizes, papers and prices. Come see!
Friday, October 23, 2009
You Are Invited.............
TO:Holidays Arts & Crafts Bazaar
November 28
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Where:
First Southern Baptist Church
Christian Life Center
715 N. Woodlawn St.
Wellington, Kansas
If you and/or your family and friends are in Wellington, or nearby, come by the Christmas bazaar. I will have a booth with my painted gourds, drawings, and paintings. There will be food vendors and door prizes. Come on over and have some fun............AND, maybe you will find a unique gift and/or decoration for
your Christmas list! At any rate, it will be a fun morning and afternoon - a nice time to relax after the Thanksgiving meals. :)
Gourds 'n stuff .....
Okay. I am now officially 64. Since Wednesday of this week.I turned 64. And then I painted and wood-burned some more gourds. Yes, I'm now 64 but I can still paint a gourd. And other things. So.....this profound observation means what, exactly? Well, that "even though" I am now 64, I can still DO things. Paint gourds. Read books. Cook. Lots of things, really. I'm telling myself that I may be over that hill, but I'm not at the BOTTOM of it yet. So, I will continue to paint gourds - and other things. And read. And cook. And thank the good Lord that I CAN.
And I will repeat to myself what my eleven-year-old grandson, Christian, just told me a minute or so ago: "Life is good, Nonny." Yes! YES! Life IS good. I can still paint gourds. :)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Getting Old......
I'm feeling nostalgic this week.Guess 'cause it's birthday week . At least, one of our grandsons, Christian, just turned eleven. That doesn't seem possible. Doesn't seem like it's been eleven years since we were "timing" his Mama's contractions, then getting her to the hospital.
But, it's true - elevenyears since that happened!
Probably feeling nostalgic, too, 'cause my own birthday is coming up in a week or so. I had been looking at some old family photos (some are here) - and started thinking: "where have all the years gone????" John and I look like kids in these pictures; yet we thought, at the time, we were so "adult". :) John's photo is his high school Senior photo (cute, isn't he?!) - and mine is after we were married and I was a young mama.
And, of course, these cute kids are the ones I was the young mama TO! And, now, I am the OLD mama to them - and the grandma to THEIR kids. Again, where did all the years go? I remember, as a young mama, hearing the "older" moms tell me, from time to time, "enjoy them now, because they grow up fast".
Yeah, sure......I also remember the days when I was thinking, "REALLY? HOW FAST?" ha But, those were only on those "will this ever end???" days. Mostly, I didn't want them to end. I wanted the kids to stay little and cute......well, in my heart, if not in reality. It didn't seem at the time that they would ever grow up and be gone. Or, at least, it seemed as if I didn't need to worry about it, as it would take a LONG time for that to happen.
But it didn't. Take a long time. It didn't take a long time and now here I am wondering how all those years could be gone already. Our kids are adults themselves, some married and with children of their own. Spread out all over the country. We don't see them often. I am proud of them. And I miss them. I DO thank God for technology........telephones (the "normal" ones), cell phones where you can send photos and videos back and forth immediately, computers with the email and Facebook and Blogs. It's so much easier to stay in touch with distant family members nowadays. It doesn't replace the face-to-face-now-I-can-hug-you times; but it helps.
Yes, time has certainly flown. I will turn sixty-four soon..........many years past the young-mama stage. Now I find it is ME saying to the young moms, "enjoy them now, 'cause they sure grow up fast". And I smile as I see THEIR smiles and can almost read their thoughts, "yeah, sure .....will these frantic days NEVER end???" Yes, they will. All too soon. Some day, before you realize it, young mamas, you, too will be turning sixty-four and wondering where the years went and how did those babies grow up so fast......and it will be YOU passing on the "enjoy them now....." advice.
Birthdays make us think, I suppose, about the past. However, as I told a younger friend recently who was worrying about turning forty: "Thank God for being forty (or sixty-four!), because if you weren't forty, that means you just AREN'T period!)." And I still AM. So, I'll remember the "old days", but look forward to the new ones to come. I may be "getting old" or, as younger ones think, AM old - but I still AM. :)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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