Friday, April 02, 2021
Sister Jane
It is with a very heavy heart I share that Sister Jane Mankaa of the Good Shepherd Orphanage and Good Shepherd Academy, died peacefully in hospital in Cameroon this week. She truly embodied someone doing God's work here on earth. I feel privileged to have met her and help to contribute to her work in whatever little way I could over the years. If you feel so moved you may contribute in her memory to:
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Mama D's Snow Cream
Hodgepodge reader Linda J. sends along this link to a recipe to make Snow Cream.
http://www.marysbites.com/2010/02/mama-ds-snow-cream.html
Large bowl of clean snow (my bowl is 16 cup capacity)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
¾ cup sugar
Pour vanilla and sugar over snow. Start adding the milk, mixing on low until all is incorporated and slushy. Cover and put into the freezer for at least one hour before eating or until firm. Can be kept in freezer for days, if it lasts that long!
http://www.marysbites.com/2010/02/mama-ds-snow-cream.html
Large bowl of clean snow (my bowl is 16 cup capacity)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
¾ cup sugar
Pour vanilla and sugar over snow. Start adding the milk, mixing on low until all is incorporated and slushy. Cover and put into the freezer for at least one hour before eating or until firm. Can be kept in freezer for days, if it lasts that long!
Labels: ice cream, snow, snow cream
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
18 Things Everyone Should Start Making Time For Again
1. Writing things by hand. Letters to friends, lists for the store, goals for the week, notes for lovers, thank you cards and memos to coworkers. Digital communication is easy and convenient but ask anybody: there’s a huge difference between texting someone to say that you love them and hope they have a great day and writing it on a note and leaving it next to their bed.
2. Savoring time to do nothing. Taking a cue from pre-industrialized society and cultures that enjoy siestas and long, drawn-out, sit-down teas that serve no other purpose than to spend time enjoying the time you have.
3. Thinking before responding. We’ve become too conditioned to require things immediately. Someone asks a question, and we have to respond that second. Such was not the case before instant messaging and comment threads. A sign of true intelligence and confidence, I think, is someone who takes time to consider the question at hand in a little more depth, and then offers a response.
4. Cooking a nice meal just for the sake of doing so. It really trains you to defy your need for instant gratification and of course puts you in touch with something that’s very human and can be lovely if done right.
5. Getting really dressed up for no other reason than just wanting to.
6. Books. Actual hard copy books that you can scribble notes in and mark off sections of and smell ink through and hear the sound of turning pages and bending spines while you read.
7. Making phone calls to relatives for no other reason than to just say hi, and to ask how they’re doing.
8. Disconnecting from technology frequently enough that we won’t be anxious and feeling like we’re missing something when we try to do so for an extended period of time.
9. Celebrating things with long, multiple course dinners that we hold for people as opposed to just drinking ourselves into an oblivion and being belligerent (that has it’s time and place, of course, but having thoughtful, celebratory dinners is a dying art).
11. Spending time with kids, and doing kid things with them. They just know what’s up.
12. Answering things in a timely fashion, not putting off invitations and requests just because we can.
13. Making sure relationships are actually based on time spent with one another. People seem to be sustaining them through only digital means with increasing frequency and I can understand how that’s important if it’s temporarily long distance but in general, physically being with people is the only thing that will give you that sense of human connectedness.
14. Just sitting and listening to music. We’ve made music background noise in our everyday lives, but now and again we should just sit and enjoy it like people used to.
15. Traveling by train, or if that’s not possible, at least exploring places that you pass everyday. Especially if you live in a big city, there are always little hidden gems around that you won’t believe you lived without seeing while they were a block away from you all along.
16. Putting personal health and well-being first, as it often falls to the wayside in importance. This means, aside from the obvious, taking those personal days and using them to just relax. We’ve made such a quirky commodity out of enjoying napping and relaxing, as though doing so makes us boring and old. It doesn’t, it’s healthy.
17. Planning something, especially with someone else, as simple as dinner or as grandiose as a long vacation next year. You always need something to look forward to.
18. Stopping to talk to people throughout the day. Connecting with them genuinely, as such interaction is really important but is becoming increasingly less common. Turning our phones off when out to dinner (who even turns them off anymore?) and learning to not spend all of our time documenting whatever we’re doing for social media. It often takes away from the experience itself.
2. Savoring time to do nothing. Taking a cue from pre-industrialized society and cultures that enjoy siestas and long, drawn-out, sit-down teas that serve no other purpose than to spend time enjoying the time you have.
3. Thinking before responding. We’ve become too conditioned to require things immediately. Someone asks a question, and we have to respond that second. Such was not the case before instant messaging and comment threads. A sign of true intelligence and confidence, I think, is someone who takes time to consider the question at hand in a little more depth, and then offers a response.
4. Cooking a nice meal just for the sake of doing so. It really trains you to defy your need for instant gratification and of course puts you in touch with something that’s very human and can be lovely if done right.
5. Getting really dressed up for no other reason than just wanting to.
6. Books. Actual hard copy books that you can scribble notes in and mark off sections of and smell ink through and hear the sound of turning pages and bending spines while you read.
7. Making phone calls to relatives for no other reason than to just say hi, and to ask how they’re doing.
8. Disconnecting from technology frequently enough that we won’t be anxious and feeling like we’re missing something when we try to do so for an extended period of time.
9. Celebrating things with long, multiple course dinners that we hold for people as opposed to just drinking ourselves into an oblivion and being belligerent (that has it’s time and place, of course, but having thoughtful, celebratory dinners is a dying art).
Check out “The Truth About Everything” here.
10. Cleaning because it’s satisfying and doing things like painting walls or getting fresh flowers just because it’s therapeutic.11. Spending time with kids, and doing kid things with them. They just know what’s up.
12. Answering things in a timely fashion, not putting off invitations and requests just because we can.
13. Making sure relationships are actually based on time spent with one another. People seem to be sustaining them through only digital means with increasing frequency and I can understand how that’s important if it’s temporarily long distance but in general, physically being with people is the only thing that will give you that sense of human connectedness.
14. Just sitting and listening to music. We’ve made music background noise in our everyday lives, but now and again we should just sit and enjoy it like people used to.
15. Traveling by train, or if that’s not possible, at least exploring places that you pass everyday. Especially if you live in a big city, there are always little hidden gems around that you won’t believe you lived without seeing while they were a block away from you all along.
16. Putting personal health and well-being first, as it often falls to the wayside in importance. This means, aside from the obvious, taking those personal days and using them to just relax. We’ve made such a quirky commodity out of enjoying napping and relaxing, as though doing so makes us boring and old. It doesn’t, it’s healthy.
17. Planning something, especially with someone else, as simple as dinner or as grandiose as a long vacation next year. You always need something to look forward to.
18. Stopping to talk to people throughout the day. Connecting with them genuinely, as such interaction is really important but is becoming increasingly less common. Turning our phones off when out to dinner (who even turns them off anymore?) and learning to not spend all of our time documenting whatever we’re doing for social media. It often takes away from the experience itself.
Like this post? Explore the author’s book The Truth About Everything here.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
11 Things that Can Happen When You Drink Apple Cider Vinegar Every Day
11 Things that Can Happen
When You Drink Apple Cider Vinegar Every Day
1. The flavor could grow on you
2. Your appetite could decrease
3. You may stop craving sweet things
4. Your stomach might feel better
5. It could reduce your blood sugar
6. It could boos your heart health
7. You could absorb more of your food's nutrients
8. Your risk for cancer could decrease
9. You could be better protected against harmful bacteria
10. Your breath could smell better
11. Your tooth enamel could weaken (Prevent tooth damage by diluting ACV—aim for one part vinegar to ten parts water. For ultimate protection for your teeth, sip the concoction through a straw rather than just drinking it.
To read more about all of this go to: http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/11-things-that-can-happen-when-you-drink-apple-cider-vinegar-every-day/ss-AAxF19s?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1
Friday, June 01, 2018
Crown Cake for Father's Day
From that same Baker's Coconut Cookbook that the Easter Bunny was from, here's a cake you can make for Father's Day. I had the original little booklet but I can't find it. If anyone out there can scan and email it to me, I'd appreciate it.
This is from the 1956 version, the one we had when I was a kid.
This picture is from ebay and it listed for just under $50 plus shipping!
You can find directions for the Bunny cake here:
Thursday, April 12, 2018
I Found A Quilted Heart
I Found a Quilted Heart
This is the first quilted heart I've made for someone to find.
The IFAQH community of volunteers places small quilted hearts around the globe
simply to brighten the day of a stranger.
To learn more go to:
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Camping Hedgehog Pics Just for Fun 'cause it's the Hodgepodge logo.
Just couldn't resist sharing these. Click on the link to see more.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
7 Books From Your Childhood that Kids Still Love to Read
List is from the website - Donor's Choose
1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
2. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.
3. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
4. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
5. Matilda by Roald Dahl.
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madelene L’Engle
7. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
To read more or to donate to Donor's Choose go to link:
https://dreamhost.donorschoose.org/7-books-kids-still-love/?rf=email-campaign-2017-10-fesdsub1&j=22019619&sfmc_sub=1856081911&l=4598628_HTML&u=300894214&mid=60528&jb=0