Our Uninvited Guest remains so . . .

 The cat that decided to make us his home is still with us. He is an old fellow, very mellow, and just wants his head rubbed and his chin scratched. He doesn't scratch or bite but is pretty definite about his likes and dislikes. Although we do not really want him, it has been cold and feeling sorry for him, we have provided a box with some old towels for him to sleep in at night. The rain we had yesterday made the day especially chilly so I gave the cat an extra old towel. He was already in the box so I placed the towel gently over his back. He started purring, curled himself into the new warmth . . . and suddenly jumped out of the bed and glared at the new addition to his stinky, comfy bed. He took himself to the opposite side of the front porch and remained there the rest of the day.

Just before we went to bed, I told my daughter to take the new towel out of the bed so the cat could go back to his abode and keep warm. She folding the towel and left it at the side of the porch. On the way to bed, I glanced out and the cat was sleeping on the rejected towel! When I got up in the morning, he was still shivering and sitting on the rejected towel instead of his warm box bed. My daughter said to not feel to sorry for the old cat as she had also checked on him during the night and he was sleeping in the box. I guess he didn't want us to stop feeling sorry for his plight.

Last Week's Quilt Project with Some Progress . . .

 It was a busy week but I finally found some time to work on the quilt requested by my husband. As I posted earlier in the month, he wanted a pattern that didn't made his eyes spin looking at it. In the matter of color and pattern, we are certainly a couple of 'opposites attract' on that level. He is more sedate in his color choices and I am not. That's what he gets for marrying someone who used to love painting abstracts! I still need to cut out more squares in order to construct the bigger squares but need to buy some new blue fabrics to avoid too much of the same old ones in the overall quilt. Gosh, does that mean I have to go to the fabric store? I am such a martyr for my craft, aren't I?

Completing a Crocheting Project . . .

I finished the edging on my second afghan project this afternoon. I still have lots of loose color change threads to weave in but the major work is done. It is interesting how a minor switch in the way I used the two colors came up with two different looking afghans even though the basic pattern and stitches were the same. I should have been sewing but I was watching a movie on television while I ate lunch and finished my food 15 minutes before the movie ended. So as not to feel too guilty about sitting there to see it to the finale, I grabbed my crocheting and kept my fingers busy!

Easy Almond Cookies

We got a tastes of winter, yesterday, with torrential rain for most of the day. It is still overcast today and cold - the perfect day to warm up the house with cooking and baking.

I think the scent of almond is one of my favorites. If it is in line with something baking in the oven, even better. This one covers both aspects and tastes like you fussed more than you did.

Easy Almond Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely ground toasted almonds
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use vegetable oil spray.

Cream together the butter, sugar, and flavories until light and fluffy. Stir in the almonds and flour and mix well. Roll into tablespoon balls of dough. Roll in either granulated or colored sugar. Place about twe-inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Gently press down a bit with the bottom of a glass.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or so depending on size and thickness of cookies. They should be browned on the bottom and golden around the edges. Let them rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to cooling rack.

You should have about 3-3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Enough milk to form a glaze.

Mix all the ingredients together until smooth. You don't want overly runny. Line your cookies up on a cooling rack set over sheets of waxed paper. You can either drizzle it over the cookies or spread it on.  You can dust them with ground almonds, slivered almonds, or colorful candy decorations.

Lent is over . . .

In spite of some hunger pains, it wasn't too hard to give up chocolates and related treats during Lent . . . mainly because they weren't coming into the house. Lent is over and through the generosity of friends, boxes of delectable, chocolate shop goodies are all too available. I haven't indulged . . . yet!

After I discovered that it would take an hour of hard jogging to burn off about 240 calories - the calorie content of one candy bar, I'm afraid of wasting my daily allotment of calories on a small piece of chocolate.

Lent is over, however, and my family does enjoy a homemade dessert once or twice a week so I've been researching comfort foods that have been altered to taste good but still take out some of the fat and sugar. It is amazing but it can be done.

Before Lent, I made cheesecake which can run over 300-400 calories for a slice besides padding your heart with bad fat. This recipe used three packages of non-fat cream cheese and two packages of 33% less fat cream cheese. The sugar was reduced by a cup and it was hard to tell the difference. I guess you just have to think about where and what you can substitute or cut from a recipe to make a difference! Even the crust used low-fat crackers. To enhance the 'health benefit' side of the creation, I added a topping of fresh strawberries. Now, I'm on the look out for a low-calorie chocolate layer cake recipe. After all, one does not live by lettuce alone . . . at least in my book!

 I do not, however, use any of the artificial sweeteners in my recipes. My husband has severe reactions to them (landed him in emergency once!) and they really aren't that good for you.

I have had an 'adverse' reaction to my Lenten fasting . . . I can't bring myself to go back to eating candy and sweets . . . I feel too good! Once I got used to indulging in apples, baby bell peppers, and such for meals and snacks during Lent, the taste quality went up 100%. When you don't mix excess sugar into the diet, the sweetness of the garden-grown stuff tastes so much better. I'm seeing how long I can hold off on this!

Another reason I'm trying to basically stick to better eating habit was inspired for a former friend who knew better but never ate healthily. Interesting way to find inspiration but it was something that was said that caused me to sit up and take heed. The person actually said that given her eating habits and weight, she knows that diabetes will be in her future. I was shocked at her casual thought about this disease. It made me rapidly reconsider how I approach food and whether the food was in charge of me or I of the food.

You don't suffer when you cut out excesses in your food intake and the types of food you eat. When you think about how blessed we are with available fruits and vegetables at our markets, it is almost an insult to God to not use what He has given us for health. Hey, not saying sugar and chocolate is out but it should never be the substitute for a good, home-prepared meal.

Enough said?

The Church can no more identify her cause with scientific error than with political wrong. Her interests may be impaired by some measure of political justice, or by the admission of some fact or document. But in neither case can she guard her interests at the cost of denying the truth.

Lord Acton: Conflicts with Rome (19th century)

Mommy Wars? Bring it on!

A Democratic woman had the audicity to judge Mrs. Romney and proclaim to the world that she hasn't worked a day in her life. Uh, it doesn't matter how much or how little money you have, as a mother, you work everyday providing for the well-being of your children. Money doesn't make you less of a mother. How dare this particular woman slam Mrs. Romney in this way? Is that the Democrats attitude toward women? Women who vote?

When the economy is going down the drain, jobs are few and far between, and gas prices are sky rocketing, should the slant of the campaign rhetoric on the Democratic side really be the disrespect of women who chose to raise their own children and stay at home to do so?

And, you have to wonder about a president who doesn't defend all the women in America when a faction of them are maligned. Not a word from him that I've heard about. But, then, this is the president who had nothing to say when a bounty was illegally offered for a citizen of the United States, dead or alive. I guess the women of the USA should be glad it was only a verbal assault against them. We, the mothers who chose to stay home, need to remember only one thing - Jesus had a stay-at-home mother.

What is a mother: Who shall answer this?

A mother is a font and spring of life,

A mother is a forest in whose heart

Lies hid a secret ancient as the hills,

For men to claim and take its wealth away;

And like the forest shall her wealth renew

And give, and give again, that men may live.

Cardinal Spellman: Mary, Mother of Mankind (20th century)