I Finally Got to Witness Karma

Never was I so happy to see this as I was last Friday.

My sister and I were traveling to Idaho last week. On our way I was driving in the left lane, passing slower vehicles. From behind an SUV comes speeding (understatement) along and he whips into the right lane and with barely a car length between me and the slower vehicle on the right he cuts me off. I literally have to brake to avoid colliding with his stupid maneuver and my sister immediately leans over and pushes on my horn for a full 5-10 seconds alerting how moronic he is. Oddly, he slows down some and merges back into the right lane. I'm thinking, "what the heck is wrong with this guy? Why did he make such a dumb move to get ahead only a few car lengths?" Well, just a minute or two later a highway patrol car came whipping by. And all I was thinking was, "Please let it be for that jerk!" And sure enough it was. Yep - he knew the police caught him speeding and he was trying to hide out up ahead - and almost caused at least a 3 car crash up because of it. I was never so happy to see anyone get pulled over as I was for him. "Karma!" I shouted and waved at him when we passed along our merry way.

Quality Time (A Fun & Lighthearted Video)

The Piano Guys + St George = Magic

What the World Needs Now is LOVE

I don't know if many of you heard about the incident of middle school kids bullying the 68 year old bus monitor and posting the video on Facebook. It is sad. I heard about it while watching "The O'Reilly Factor." The video is 10 minutes long and I couldn't face watching any more of it after only watching the 20 second clip they showed on the news show. It made me want to cry that anyone would treat someone else this way.

Glen Beck addresses this issue and I couldn't say it any better. Other media are saying how sad it is that Ms. Klein has been treated this way and all the focus is on her (and it is sad and she should have support). But no one is addressing the fact that something is wrong with our culture that children could behave this way and could act so maliciously and hateful towards another human being.

What really gets me is this morning on the Today Show it's reported that "some" of the bullies have apologized. One student wrote "When I saw the video I was disgusted and could not believe I did that. I will never treat anyone this way again.” Another student said he feels “really bad” about the incident. And another student's father apologized. I hope these kids do feel bad - but I don't know if they really do though. They were not just mean but they were downright cruel to this woman. An "I'm sorry" just doesn't cut it. And apparently there is a website getting donations for Karen Klein - upwards to about $500,000 right now. Another issue Glen Beck addresses. All we do is throw money at a problem and forget about it rather than fix what's truly wrong in our society.

I don't usually get too involved in all the media stories but this one affected me. And I appreciate Glen Beck's comments. I wish more parents would take the time to teach their children how to be respectful and how to be loving and kind. But we can't control the world. We can only control how we influence others. So may each of us do our best to be the examples this world needs and hope and pray it will, in turn, affect someone else who will learn from us.

Piña Colada Cake

At it again. I found the original recipe for a pineapple sheet cake here. However, it sounded too sweet and rich for my preference. So I made some tweaks and it turned out pretty well. I'm tempted next time to reduce the sugar even more and perhaps add a little whole wheat flour.  Here is the modified recipe:

Piña Colada Cake
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
20 ounce can crushed pineapple, in juice, don't drain
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract

Mix all together until smooth. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. When cooled cut and serve with a generous dollop of topping.

Topping
I didn't really measure but here is the gist of what I did:
1/4 cup pineapple juice
approx 2 Tbs vanilla pudding mix
milk as needed
1 tsp coconut extract
1/4 cup coconut
small tub of cool whip
dash salt

Whisk pineapple juice and pudding mix - if too thick add a little milk. Stir in coconut extract and slowly fold some of the whip cream into mixture. Add coconut and salt. Add more whip cream until desired consistency and taste is achieved (I ended up using about 3/4 of the container of cool whip).

Cranberry Orange Cookies

I originally discovered a cookie recipe called "Orange Creamsicle Cookies" that looked like this:

It sounded so good that I made them. They were good but too greasy and too sweet in my opinion. So I decided to modify the recipe. And it was sooo yummo I have to share:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon b soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoon applesauce

3 tablespoons white sugar

2  1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon egg substitute

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon orange zest (I don't measure, I just use all the zest from one orange)

1/4 cup oats

1/3 cup craisins

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in applesauce, egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture and oats until combined. Stir in orange zest, craisins and white chocolate chips. (Add more oats and/or flour as needed if dough is too sticky.) Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Makes about 18-20 cookies.

Total Eclipse....or maybe just partial...

Today news spread of this evening's solar eclipse. I was somewhat disappointed that the eclipse was not visible to the naked eye and that the earth did not darken like it is portrayed in the movies. I, however, was able to get a few shots on my ever so trusty camera phone. I'm sure some of what was captured was actually the reflection pinging off my camera lens - I can not say for certain as the sun was too bright to physically look at. But I think the pictures are cool anyway.

Sun so bright! Yet it was darker than normal at ground level, although you can't tell.

I think the reflection into the camera caused the moon to appear pink in these pics.

This was as eclipsed as we got to "see".

I think Dad was blind....or just looking down for the second I snapped this shot :D

I Love Cooking Blogs

I am not ambitious enough to do my own cooking blog but I love finding new recipes. So here is a list of a few favorites I’ve discovered:

SPINACH & FETA PASTA

This is a simple pasta recipe but tastes amazing - it could rival any Italian restaurant dish.

BRAZILIAN CHEESE ROLLS

These are fast and simple to make. The most difficult is finding tapioca flour - but most health food stores should have it. My nieces and nephews practically inhaled these when I made them.

ROSEMARY FOCACCIA

This is the easiest yeast bread - if I can successfully make it then anyone can. It is delicious - and so fun to tear with your hands!

REFRIED BEAN CAKES

These may not look like much - but they are so addictively good!

CURRY BROCCOLI-CAULIFLOWER SOUP

If you don't like spicy or have kids just lighten up the curry. My family raved over this one. Also it is quite simple to just use frozen veggies - and then immersion blend the soup.

BAKED POTATO SOUP

This sounded so delicious. Unfortunately when I made it all I had was vanilla flavored soymilk - I don't suggest that. Otherwise I bet this would taste amazing if made with regular flavored milk or soymilk.


SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI
Gnocchi is amazingly easy to make - a little messy with the flour everywhere but very simple. I liked the idea after boiling the gnocchi to then pan fry it. I made a variation of this sauce recipe for on top and it was so tasty.



And a few recipes I haven’t yet tried but would love to indulge sometime:

CHOCOLATE CHIP SNICKERDOODLES

PUMPKIN CINNAMON STREUSEL PANCAKES



POTATO ROSEMARY SOUP

Enjoy!