Feast Day of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother

"We beseech Thee, O Lord, grant to Thy servants the gift of Thy heavenly grace; as the child-bearing of the blessed Virgin was the beginning of salvation, so may the joyful festival of her nativity bring us an increase of peace."

Roman Missal, Collect for the Feast (September 8th, Gregorian, 7th century)

Reagan knew . . . What else can one add . . . ?

New apron creation!

 I was gifted with some darling fabric and turned it into a one-of-a-kind apron. I liked the supplental fabric with the recipes on them. They made a neat addition to the bodice and pockets of the apron. I like to sew but, sometimes, sewing is totally fun!

Sweet Tomato Cake in the Works . . .

 Although I posted a recipe for Sweet Tomato Cake, last month, the Google Blogger wasn't posting pictures for some reason. As you can see, they have rectified the situation and you can see the cake being created. The left is the flour, sugar, cinnamon, etc. being prepared. The measuring cup is full of seeded tomatoes. and the bottom shows one of the completed cakes.

Seeding the tomatoes was . . . interesting. I dipped them all in boiling water and quickly plunged them into ice water so the skins would slip off easily. That was neat and tidy to do. However, getting the seeds and liquid out of the tomatoes meant just squeezing one in your fish and letting it all spew out. I'm still getting the tomato stains out of my tee shirt!

Like a really boring television show . . .

 Every morning as soon as Marcela, the cat, is released from her confines, she races to the slider to view our dog, Chick. Chick is desperately in love with the cat but still the cat is too little to chance Chick's overpowering embraces. So, each morning, they commune through the screen door. Once in awhile they will go nose to nose through the screen to get a good sniff of this other odd creature.

One Week To Go . . .

 

 

I spent this week contacting more cat rescue places who mostly have either e-mail contacts or answering machines. They don't reply to either! Because of scheduling with my husband's work, these babies have a reprieve of one week before we have to take them to the Humane Society which is a contradiction as I heard they are not putting the cats down with injection but gassing them. A friend said she was at the shelter for our area and saw, in person, abuse of an animal by a worker there. We were considering paying for a vet to put them down but at anywhere from $50-$75 apiece, we can't afford it. The top picture is of two half-grown male cats we've been calling Bold and Fresh. Bold will race into our house any chance he gets and then immediately wants out as he realizes his 'mistake'. Fresh is shyer but desperately wants patting and immediately goes into a loud purring mode. Both cats have unbelievably soft fur.

The second picture is of a cat we've been calling Miss Stubby. She got the name because she is so shy that when she crosses over an unprotected space, she looks like she has two-inch legs! In fact, she was hanging around for a month before we realized she really had normal legs. In this picture, she looks a little frazzled but, over the last month, her fur suddenly tamed down and she has the most perfect cream fur on her feet and is very soft and smooth.

The lower picture is Mrs. Black Cat who is heavily pregnant. This is not a great condition for a cat headed for the shelter and a sad way to end the kittens lives before they are even born.

It is so frustrating that the responsible people who see to their animals care and make sure they have their shots and are neutered/spayed get the heartache of dealing with other people's abandoned animals.

We've been praying to St. Jude (patron of hopeless cases!) and St. Francis of Assisi (patron of animals) but time is growing short and options are not presenting themselves. We have to get these cats, especially the black ones, off the streets before Halloween.

Brittle Almond Bars or Almond Brittle Bars?

I know, I said I was done with the 'A' recipes but discovered this one tucked away in my files. As you can see, you can file it under 'A' or go with today's 'B'!

Brittle Almond Bars or Almond Brittle Bars?
1 cup butter - margarine won't work!
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted and ground almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet (with rims) with parchment paper.

Beat together the butter, espresso powder, extracts, and cinnamon. Whip in the sugar until it is well incorporated. Stir in the flour and mix. Press dough into prepared pan as evenly as possible. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Set baked cookies on cooling rack. When it is fresh from the oven, sprinkle on the chocolate chip and spread them out as they melt to cover completely. Add the ground nuts over the surface and then let set a bit, cut into bars, and leave in the pan until completely cool. The refrigerator will hasten this process!

If you want it to look like 'real' brittle, you can just break up the cookies into irregular pieces.

Abortion doesn't always kill . . .

Abortion doesn't always kill although that is the intent of the people in favor of it. If you have any doubt about how our current president feels about it, look at his Senate record. While he didn't do much his time as a senator, he did get behind a proposed law to change the Born Alive Act. The Born Alive Act meant that is an abortion 'went wrong' (what a contradiction in words!), another doctor was to step in and make sure death of the now delivered baby was assured. There are more than a few cases of babies surviving this attack which now presents problems for those involved. Four times, then senator obama tried to get this changed to making sure each and every abortion resulted in death of the baby. It didn't pass, from what I understand, but what a mind set for one human being to have in regards to another.

I saw a preview of an ad the ProLife faction want to run during the election time. It features a very nice-looking young lady explaining that not all abortions end in death and it is surprising how many do survive. She says she knows this for a fact as she was a 'failed' abortion. If it hadn't been for a nurse who heard her cries, she wouldn't be here, today. to tell her story. Now, tell me, in the mind of a avowed supporter of abortion, a baby is not a baby until it is a wanted baby. Well, here is a living, breathing, productive young woman who was unwanted but is suddenly transformed into a human being.

If you want to know how really adamant anti-life people are, this is a link to read that you won't soon forget.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0107.htm

Interesting . . . Where did the Democrats lose sight of how taxes work . . . or don't work?

President John F. Kennedy on why taxes should be lower in contrast to Obama who has already raised our taxes 21 times via Obamacare and has expressed the intent to raise them more. Kennedy is the only Democratic President since 1952 who improved the economy when he had a Democratic Congress. Kennedy improved the economy by cutting taxes. Clinton also had an improved economy, but Clinton cooperated with a Republican Congress during his years when the economy improved.

The following quotes are published in the book, “The Interesting History of Income Tax,” by William J. Federer (Amerisearch, Inc., P.O. Box 20163, St. Louis, MO 63123, 1-888-USA-WORD)

“It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now … Cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus.”

– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, president’s news conference

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“Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased – not a reduced – flow of revenues to the federal government.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 17, 1963, annual budget message to the Congress, fiscal year 1964

“In today’s economy, fiscal prudence and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarges the federal deficit – why reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”

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“It is no contradiction – the most important single thing we can do to stimulate investment in today’s economy is to raise consumption by major reduction of individual income tax rates.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 21, 1963, annual message to the Congress: “The Economic Report Of The President”

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“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, message to Congress on tax reduction and reform, House Doc. 43, 88th Congress, 1st Session.

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“A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget. Every taxpayer and his family will have more money left over after taxes for a new car, a new home, new conveniences, education and investment. Every businessman can keep a higher percentage of his profits in his cash register or put it to work expanding or improving his business, and as the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues.”

– John F. Kennedy, Sept. 18, 1963, radio and television address to the nation on tax-reduction bill

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“I have asked the secretary of the treasury to report by April 1 on whether present tax laws may be stimulating in undue amounts the flow of American capital to the industrial countries abroad through special preferential treatment.”

– John F. Kennedy, Feb. 6, 1961, message to Congress on gold and the balance of payments deficit

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“In those countries where income taxes are lower than in the United States, the ability to defer the payment of U.S. tax by retaining income in the subsidiary companies provides a tax advantage for companies operating through overseas subsidiaries that is not available to companies operating solely in the United States. Many American investors properly made use of this deferral in the conduct of their foreign investment.”

– John F. Kennedy, April 20, 1961, message to Congress on taxation

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“Our present tax system … exerts too heavy a drag on growth … It reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking … The present tax load … distorts economic judgments and channels an undue amount of energy into efforts to avoid tax liabilities.”

– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, press conference

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“The present tax codes … inhibit the mobility and formation of capital, add complexities and inequities which undermine the morale of the taxpayer, and make tax avoidance rather than market factors a prime consideration in too many economic decisions.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 23, 1963, special message to Congress on tax reduction and reform

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“In short, it is a paradoxical truth that … the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now. The experience of a number of European countries and Japan have borne this out. This country’s own experience with tax reduction in 1954 has borne this out. And the reason is that only full employment can balance the budget, and tax reduction can pave the way to that employment. The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus.”

– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, news conference

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“The largest single barrier to full employment of our manpower and resources and to a higher rate of economic growth is the unrealistically heavy drag of federal income taxes on private purchasing power, initiative and incentive.”

– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 24, 1963, special message to Congress on tax reduction and reform

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“Expansion and modernization of the nation’s productive plant is essential to accelerate economic growth and to improve the international competitive position of American industry … An early stimulus to business investment will promote recovery and increase employment.”

– John F. Kennedy, Feb. 2, 1961, message on economic recovery

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“We must start now to provide additional stimulus to the modernization of American industrial plants … I shall propose to the Congress a new tax incentive for businesses to expand their normal investment in plant and equipment.”

– John F. Kennedy, Feb. 13, 1961, National Industrial Conference Board

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“A bill will be presented to the Congress for action next year. It will include an across-the-board, top-to-bottom cut in both corporate and personal income taxes. It will include long-needed tax reform that logic and equity demand … The billions of dollars this bill will place in the hands of the consumer and our businessmen will have both immediate and permanent benefits to our economy. Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary. And these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and other salaries and more customers and more growth for an expanding American economy.”

– John F. Kennedy, Aug. 13, 1962, radio and television report on the state of the national economy

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“This administration pledged itself last summer to an across-the-board, top-to-bottom cut in personal and corporate income taxes … Next year’s tax bill should reduce personal as well as corporate income taxes, for those in the lower brackets, who are certain to spend their additional take-home pay, and for those in the middle and upper brackets, who can thereby be encouraged to undertake additional efforts and enabled to invest more capital … I am confident that the enactment of the right bill next year will in due course increase our gross national product by several times the amount of taxes actually cut.”

– John F. Kennedy, Nov. 20, 1962, news conference

Smiles to begin a Saturday morning . . .

"Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had $600 billion at my disposal, I'd be irresponsible, too."
-- Lichty and Wagner

"A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you."
-- Bert Leston Taylor

Sneaking in the vegetables . . .

We like homemade Macaroni and Cheese at our house but I don't make it too often as it requires a good amount of cheese. With some experimenting, I've managed to cut down the calories just a bit which is always an improvement. When I make the sauce for the dish, I had in half a head of steamed and pureed cauliflower! No one can tell and it seems to enhance the taste. I also use sharp cheddar as it gives a fuller taste with less cheese. Believe it or not, the dish turns out creamier than the usual way and knowing their are a few less calories tempts even me to have, perhaps, an extra spoonful.

I imagine that I am not the first to think of this so there are probably an abundance of similar recipes on-line. Anyone interested in my version, let me know.

I've also been known to 'hide' tomatoes or carrots in smoothies, too. One eats at my house at their own risk! :-)

Brown Sugar Cookie Treats

Ran out of 'A' Cookie titles and am on to the 'B' recipes listed in my files! And, 'B' is for Brown Sugar Cookie Treats. Thse are not a fancy cookie but great to throw together on a hectic day or make for the family when you need to reserve the fancy holiday baking for parties or other events.

Brown Sugar Cookie Treats
1 large egg
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans (although walnuts or almonds are good, too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Vegetable oil spray or grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Mix together the egg, brown sugar, extracts, and zest until well combined. Blend in the dry ingredients and the nuts.

Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Cool in the pan before cutting into servings. The cookies will be softer when warm and more chewy as they cool.