Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Friends



What a wretched lot of old shriveled creatures we shall be by-and-by. Never mind--the uglier we get in the eyes of others, the lovelier we shall be to each other; that has always been my firm faith about friendship.
* George Eliot

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
* Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
* Ralph Waldo Emerson

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life.
* Lee Iacocca

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.
* François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

However rare true love may be, it is less so than true friendship.
* François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Hold a true friend with both your hands.
* Nigerian Proverb

To me, fair friend, you never can be old
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still.
* William Shakespeare

"It is the friends that you can call at 4 A.M. that matter." -- Marlene Dietrich

"My best friend is the one that brings out the best in me." -- Henry Ford


"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country." -- E. M. Forster


"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -- Anais Nin


"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."
- Bible: Ecclesiastes

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."--Aristotle

"Friendship is a single souls dwelling in two bodies." --Aristotle




Thursday, January 29, 2009

Brownies and Pie (whole grain and agave!)




I have had sooo many people request more recipes that I am putting two on today. These use whole grains and no sugar and taste dang good. And these ones feature chocolate, of course!

Terri's Gooey Brownies

1 Cup butter melted
6-8 Tblsp Cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 Cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Cup flour ( I use 1/2 brown rice flour and 1/2 coconut flour with great results!)
1 Cup Grain sweetened Chocolate chips

First beat the cocoa into the melted butter, then add agave, eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add dry ingredients and choc chips, pour into greased 7 x 11 inch pan and bake at 300 deg. for about 30 min... maybe longer depending on how you like them- keep eye on them. If you want them gooey bring them out when they still seem rather moist and cool completely. Once you have made these a few times you will learn at what point they are as baked as you like them.



Jojo's Chocolaty Pecan Pie

Pie Crust ( make your fave with whole grain 1/2 cup whole grain flour of choice
or buy whole wheat frozen crust at Good Earth)
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup crystalline fructose (or 1/2 agave)
1/2 Cup whole grain flour
1 Tblsp Cocoa powder (optional)
1 Cup grain sweetened choc chips
1 Cup chopped pecans
Top with whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven 350. Cream butter; add eggs and vanilla. Combine sweetener and flour; stir in nuts and chips. Pour into unbaked pastry shell. Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Cool and devour with whipped cream. (I whip my own cream with agave and vanilla)


Coming soon: Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares , Dark Chocolate Truffles and Almond Roca bars ...if you have not tried my No Way! Chocolate Cake find the recipe on a previous post.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Potter

I recently read a book by Camille Fronk called In the Hands Of the Potter. It is a small book, a quick read...but had a lovely message, drawing strongly from the metaphor of how we are all like clay in God's hands and how He shapes us.
Isaiah said, "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; and we are the work of thy hand."
Taking this further...God uses us all as instruments in his hands. In this way we are all a part of this process, we too are potters. We can leave impressions on the lives of those around us. Obviously as parents, but also as friends and family members.
Recently two of my boys began taking pottery from, Tim, an old family friend of ours. He was a lot like a cousin to me as a kid, somehow their family felt like relatives. His dad and mine were both artists and friends -each with large families. It was on my birthday in first grade that his dad was killed in a car accident. It was tragic and horrible- it haunted me for a long time...a sick feeling in my little stomach - it was too close to home. A couple years after that their family moved away.
During their first pottery lesson, Tim, was getting the boys comfortable using the clay, getting them familiar with the basics; giving them the confidence to explore...because you cannot ruin anything that cannot be fixed or redone. He assured them that in time it would seem easy, that it takes time and years of playing with the clay to learn its properties and how it works. He told them that he was close to their age the first time he was turned on to clay and working with it. He told us that it was actually my dad who gave him his first experience with it. Apparently my dad sculpted his fathers grave marker and had young Tim along and participating in it...and that began his interest in working with clay. My father made an impression on Tim and now he is making one on my sons.
Life is full of connections like this...we all affect each other. We help shape the lives around us through our interactions and influence. And I believe that God is pleased when we are a part of that work...when we help to guide and beautify our fellow lumps of clay. And when something or someone comes along that leaves us misshapen or wobbly, somebody else will come along to put a steady and practiced hand on the vessel to bring it back or there is always the option to scrape off the wheel and start again with God's help. As Tim emphasized with the boys, there is no waste, and there is always another chance for that clay to become something wonderful...ready for the kiln...which is another thought altogether...