Enhancing the Usual . . .

Homemade chicken or beef soup is always a welcoming scent in the kitchen especially when a hungry husband is heading in the door. I've never had much of a fight in getting my children to eat it. While rice or pasta is a great addition to either soup, homemade noodles might get you a mother of the year award . . . at least in your own family! It takes minimal ingredients with a little effort.

Fat, Homemade Noodles
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Enough all-purpose flour stirred in to form a workable dough.
One teaspoon salt (optional)

Thoroughly mix in the dry ingredients until you have a dough you can roll out relatively easily. Divide you dough into three pieces. Take one piece and roll out as thin as you can on a well-floured board. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into fat strips and place on a baking sheet, one layer deep. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add a tablespoon of oil and gradually add in your noodles, stirring to keep them from sticking. It shouldn't take more than five minutes or so until they are cooked through depending on how thick you rolled them out. Drain and add to your soup.

It's cheaper than buying enough pasta for a large family and even the children can get involved in rolling out the dough. The noodles can also be thoroughly dried, bagged and kept for a day or two.

One of my college daughters loves these noodles and reduces the recipe to make herself just enough for a one-person meal.

You can also take the fresh noodles, deep fry them and dust them with cinnamon and sugar.

Ya Got That Right . . .

"The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be."
-- Walter Bagehot

"Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God."
-- Heywood Broun

Where will it all end . . .?

The United States certainly seems to continue in its decline. We still have much to be thankful for as we have one of best countries in which to live. It seems, however, that our political powers that be are doing all they can to stifle creativity, threaten jobs, and overtax our incomes. Although the economy is of importance, our smallest citizens tend to be overlooked in everyone's immediate anxiety - the unborn. We can live without a stable economy. The unborn can't live with abortion.

It puzzles me why our current administration is so set on making wholesale murder so accessible. If our president had been conceived in today's world, his college-age mother most likely would have taken the easy route and aborted him. Fortunately, for him, abortion was against the law in his womb time. There is also a higher percentage of abortions in the black community. Shouldn't a president of a definite ethnic background be concerned?

Now that the embryonic stem cell research has been given a huge green light, how much more danger comes to the unborn. We are cannibalizing our future when the deceased future may have held the answer to the questions we look for through research. The senselessness of embryonic stem cell research sickens me. To date, there have not been any grand successes to validate murder - not that it is ever validated. Meanwhile, adult stem cell research is showing promise and success - no babies harmed in the process.

Our vice president is Catholic. The speaker of the house is Catholic. Our governor and his wife are Catholic. They are all thoroughly in favor of abortion. I know you can't judge what is in a person's heart but when these people present themselves for Holy Communion, the administering priest should refuse to participate in a sacrilege. Their outward signs certainly attest to a lack of heart when they support pre-born infanticide.

And to the many Catholics who supported the president's election to office twice, I wonder if they did their research? President Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act four times, horrifyingly voting against protecting babies who survived abortion and voting in favor of leaving them to die. A vote against this legislation was a vote for infanticide.

Rainy Days and Mondays . . .

The weatherman here in California forecast morning gloom with afternoon sunshine. As of 11:30, it is overcast and cold. My favorite kind of weather! I have bread rising, the house has been picked up, and an afternoon of quilting is before me.

My Lenten vow to complete projects is working out . . . so far! At least my pile of completed quilts is much higher than my quilts in progress. My husband treated me to six yards of a great floral fabric yesterday so temptation to veer off the set path looms.

Besides the bowls of rising bread dough, I have some boneless pork simmering in barbecue sauce. It is getting a long, slow, all-day cooking so we can have pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. Besides the usual slice of onion and cheese, we complete the sandwich with cole slaw dressed with Asian salad dressing. I know, it sounds odd but it works.

Although we have given up eating out for Lent, we are finding it enjoyable to have 'fast food' night at home. I never think to make tacos as they are easier to obtain already made and hot. Since the beginning of Lent, I'm finding it is more fun to prepare favorites at home and they taste better, too. One of the blessings of Lent? I like to think so.

As I finish up some of my quilts in waiting, ideas are running through me head for yet to be cut fabric. The fan pattern has been a favorite of mine but, recently, the rail fence pattern has been used for three of my quilts. Up until this year, I have never made a quilt with that pattern as it seemed too simple. I was amazed to realize how many nuances can be achieved with it. My favorite quilt was made with every scrap I could find. It was a pattern but it was not a pattern and very cheerful.

It is kind of like people. You don't all have to be one or two of a kind to work together!

Quotes with meanings . . .

Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."
-- Iris Murdoch

"I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way."
-- Franklin P. Adams

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
-- Leo Tolstoy

"The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory."
-- Paul Fix

Quotes to laugh or think about . . .

Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles."
-- Frank Lloyd Wright

"If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style."
-- Quentin Crisp

"I don't really trust a sane person."
-- Lyle Alzado

A site of interest . . .

Now, I'm speaking soley from an unbiased viewpoint here, but you should check out the following: www.recipescramble.com It is called The Recipe Ranch and it has an unusual but fun way of approaching the subject of cooking/baking. Make sure you go to the blog, too. I think the writer did a great job for a first web page. Oh, yeah . . . That part about the unbiased viewpoint? Forget it! The new web page was done by my daughter! : - )