Stockings??

The stocking is hung by the chimney with great care!

Yule

Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, yule
pine scented log, our winter fuel.
oranges, nuts, and mulling spice
holly and ivy, greenery twice.
fires and family snuggled tight,
together and loving this longest of nights.
frost and snow twinkle without,
faces of love contain little doubt.
holding these friends and family close
with love and care in equal dose.
so now upon this magical night,
warm within watching starlight.
spices rare, and incense burns,
celebrate, with joy, a world that turns!

Wishing for Yule

Since Yule is almost here, I figured we could all use a little help with getting the gifts we want.

SPELL FOR LUCK

wondering magic bring to me,

in this life the luck I need,

so all my angles can be seen,

and thus fulfill my every dream,

combined earth and fire,

bring forth my hearts desire,

guardians of the sea, keep all harm from me.

This should be done while lighting 4 candles of the proper color to represent what your wishing for. Repeat the above words 3 times to bring good luck and obtain your hearts desire.

THE WISHING WELL

Take any large bowl. Drip a few drops of different colored candle wax in the bottom of the bowl, then adhere a white candle to that spot.

The different colors represent diverse needs and goals, while the white binds this variety together in harmony.

Each morning, light the candle when you get up and put a coin in the bowl. Make your wish for the day. Blow out the candle before you leave the house.

Whenever you desperately need to have a wish fulfilled, remove a coin from the bowl and either plant it in rich soil (houseplants will do ) or throw it into moving water so that your message of need will be carried through the earth.

When the bowl is filled with coins, use all but a few (these "seeds" always remain in your bowl) for random acts of kindness, like getting treats for the neighborhood kids or helping a homeless person. Your generosity will return to you threefold!

MAGIC WISHING POWDER

The Great Outdoors (This could be your back yard, a park, or forest -- any place where the wishing powder will land on the earth when you release it).

Anything else you feel you need to personalize your wish. You will need to craft the wishing powder ahead of time.

Do this at home in a Circle or, if you don't mind taking your mortal and pestle along with you, you can make it outside where you plan to use it. (This isn't too hard to do if you're staying in your own backyard).

2 parts sage * 1 part sandalwood * 1 part Tonka beans Grind, mix, and empower.

If you're feeling adventurous, customize your wishing powder to the wish you'll be making. (Example: Crushed rose petals for bringing love into your life).

Find a spot to make our wishes from. Take a handful of the wishing powder and begin concentrating on your wishes.

Put your energy and wish into the powder you are holding. When it feels like you can no longer hold the energy, let it fly. As the powder settles to the ground, visualize your wishes joining with the Earth, gaining power and strength.

As always, remember the Rule of Three when making your wish. After putting the energy out there, it's impossible to call it back. Remember the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."

Where to get Tonka Beans? You can do an easy search for them through any search engine to find them. Or use Vanilla Beans/pods as a Substitute

Things Dr.'s refuse to tell you!

There are such little, natural things you can do for your health, that the doctors refuse to tell you about..... mainly cause if it ain't pills.... they don't care!!!

So take your pills, but do the natural thing at the same time to help them work!!!

Banana's: If you take high blood pressure pills or water pills.... eat one a day

They are also great for Crones disease! Feel it coming on.... eat a banana.

Works great for irritable bowl syndrome too.

And little know fact, if you keep eating the banana's when you feel an attack coming on..... the attacks get less and less and less.... till in some, they go away!

Molasses: Super high in Iron and potassium!!! Tastes terrible.... but once a week, put a tablespoon in a half a glass of milk, and drink it down!!! Yuckkkk! It will keep you feeling fine and energised!!! And won't rip your tummy apart like regular Iron pills! Great when your pregnant, getting older, or just run down!

Yogurt: Any kind of antibiotic, you must take yogurt with it.... don't like the stuff, take the yogurt pills..... prone to yeast infections? Yogurt a day helps prevent them.

Cranberry's: Fantastic for bladder or kidney infections.... Make sure it's 100% juice, not the fake stuff..... Just drink a large glass or two every day

Cherry's: got Gout??? eat dried cherry's or fresh ones to cut you gout attack in more then half! sometimes preventing a flair up from even starting!!!

Taking a pain killer, such as Tylenol does NOTHING, except kill the pain for muscle strains or inflammation.... You MUST take aspirin... aspirin reduces inflammation, Tylenol doesn't!

Surgery: Massage your scars!!!! Even when it's still stapled and fresh. Massaging the surrounding area prevents scar tissue from forming, and can make the resulting scar less noticeable, and puckered. I know it's painful, but DO IT!

Zinc: We all know what it does for the immune system... but most people take it every day!!! NO NO NO!!! Take ONE zinc pill a MONTH!!! Same rewards, but less of the complications it can cause you... like killing you! Moderation when it comes to Zinc!

And the old wives tale "an apple a day keeps the Dr. away" is true... you need the roughage!!! One apple a day will keep you clean and healthy..... P.S. Don't eat the pits!! They are poison. But DO eat the skin!!! No matter how much you hate skin (like I do) peeling the apple is the worst thing you can do!

And for all of you with Sulfur allergies.... CLEAN ALL FRUIT!!! Most fruit now is treated with sulfur to keep it from spoiling!!!

Wash it away!!! You mommy used to tell you that to wash off the pesticides, now it's for keeping sulfur from building up in your body!

And DO eat nuts!!!! But only a handful a day.... people who snack too much on nuts have been misdiagnosed with Gall Bladder problems.... to many nuts, mimic this uncomfortable syndrome!!

So if you doctor says it's your Gall Bladder.... check you NUT intake before doing anything!!!! Sometime just stopping the munching will prevent unnecessary surgery!!!

Kidney stone: White Flour and Sugar Products are a NO NO! Lack of vitamin A and an excessive intake of vitamin D is a MAJOR CAUSE! Tone it down, and take it up!

Avoid foods like alcoholic beverages; condiments and pickles; certain vegetables like cucumber, radish.

natural treatment: Kidney beans, also known as dried French beans or Rajmah, are regarded as a very effective home remedy for kidney problems, including kidney stones. The method prescribed to prepare the medicine is to remove the beans from inside the pods, then slice the pods and put about sixty grams in four litre of hot water, boiling them slowly for six hours. This liquid should be strained through fine muslin and then allowed to cool for about eight hours. Thereafter the fluid should be poured through another piece of muslin without stirring.A glass of this decoction should be given to the patient every two hours throughout the day for one day and, thereafter, it may be taken several times a week. This decoction would not work if it was more than twenty-four hours old. The pods could be kept for longer periods but once they were boiled, the therapeutic factor would disappear after one day.

Basil has a strengthening effect on the kidneys.In case of kidney stones, one teaspoon each of basil juice and honey should be taken daily for six months. It has been found that stones can be expelled from the urinary tract by this treatment.

Research has shown the remarkable therapeutic success of vitamin B6 in the treatment of kidney Stones. A daily therapeutic does of 100 to 150 mg of vitamin B6, preferably, combined with other B complex vitamins, should be continued for several months for getting a permanent cure.

My Favorite winter soup!

This is my favorite soup for cold winter nights! It's hot, and spicy, and just plain yummmy!

Remember I'm Russian, so while it may seem strange to you.... you have GOT to try it!!!

1 large package of skinny ribs (don't use country ribs!!!! the skinny ones are the best)
1 or 2 large cans of sauerkraut (don't use the one in bags, the flavor isn't the same, go for the cans!) How many can you use depend on how much soup you want to make
1 large container of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Water to cover


Cut the ribs into pieces of 4 or 5 ribs at a time
place in large pot, with enough water to cover them, and bring to a boil
Let cook for 15 minutes..... then lower heat.

Add the large cans of sauerkraut (with the juice) and bring to a slow rolling boil for about 1/2 hour.

Add enough water to bring it almost to the top of the pan, usually 3 of the empty cans of sauerkraut

Add salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper is best, but it's up to you)

then add the large container of sour cream, making sure to do it slowly, and stir, stir, stir.

Reduce heat to a low simmer, and let it cook for about an hour.


There you have it, tangy, creamy, and good. I always eat the soup, and save the ribs till the last.... the longer they are in the soup, the softer and better they are!

Lasagna Confessions

My son was a very, very, happy boy when I told him that I'm making one or his favort foods for Thanksgiving..... Lasagna!

Now, on my blog, I have a HUGE confession!!!!

I'm Russian and Chinese.... we don't do sticking Lasagna!!!!

I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT!!!

But, newly married, and the hubby says he wants me to make it...... I figured I would give it a go.

And I did, and it was fantastic!!!

So good that I made it for the Green room at a Star Trek convention.....

and Scotty, from Star Trek, went out and told a packed auditorium....

"I'm from NY, but I just had the best Lasagna in my LIFE, in the green room!!"

I was so thrilled, and from then on my friends called me the "Cook of the stars".

But that's not my confession..... the recipe is.

To start out I bought Ricotta cheese..... Lasagna is made with it .... right?

WRONG!!! It had the most disgusting taste I've ever had. Not Italian, don't like it!!! BLAAAAA

So I did my usual thing.... AND WINGED IT!

The night before making it, I would put two huge containers of "Cottage Cheese" in a bowl..... yes, you heard me COTTAGE CHEESE. Then I would mix it with tons of spices, garlic salt, oregano, parsley, and onion salt. And let it sit over night.

Then I made Jar spaghetti sauce, (always add an extra 1/2 cup of water to it... you want it loose!) add some extra of the same spices, and a pound of ground beef, and let it cook.

Now, the lasagna package say to pre -cook the noodles.


WHAT!!! that's more fucking work, so I just ignored it.

uncooked noodles, cottage cheese, sauce, and so on and on.

At the end I did add sliced mozzarella cheese to the top, but that's it.

And I covered it with alunimun foil, and baked it.

I took off the cover when it was almost finished to let it brown a bit.

AND NO ONE BUT YOU GUYS KNOW THIS!!! I made it for party's, and family gatherings, and all kinds of things, and know one EVER guessed that I use Cottage Cheese instead of Ricotta!!!!!!!!!

So don't tell anyone! OK?

The "Boy"

The boy is home for Thanksgiving, so I won't be posting much! sigh

Ahhhhh the 50's

No one could have survived the 50's without meds!!!

They did keep you warm!

Ice Cream!!!

I've been making my own ice cream. I'm tired of having to read every ingredient, on every box of ice cream, and finding out later it had something I was allergic to in it.

So I found this recipe for Indian Ice Cream.... It wasn't complicated, but it did use.... milk....evaporated milk.....heavy cream.... and so on.

It was way to rich to my tummy!!

And one day I was sitting there looking at some frozen blueberry's I had, and said.... what the hell... I'm going to try something!

Out came my blender.... I put the blueberry's (still frozen) in it, a little sugar, and then just added some whole milk...... and whipped the holy shit out of it!!!

It was all fluffy, and foamy. COOL

I poured the fluffy stuff into a glass bowl, and stuck it in my freezer.

Every hour or so, I would stir up the ice cream, getting the frozen and not so frozen mixed together, and scraping the sides down (cause the sides freeze faster you know)

I found that stirring it gently allowed it to stay fluffy and foamy while freezing.... and when it was done...........YUMMMMMMMMMMM!

For those old bats out there, I can tell you it tasted like frozen "Junket Rennet Custard"!!!! OMG it's fantastic!!! You younger ladies will have no idea what Junket Rennet Custard is, I don't think they have made it in ages....but believe me it's good!

Cold and creamy, and fluffy.... and no secret ingredients to cause my allergy's to flair.

Last batch I made with "Hersey's special dark chocolate syrup" I'M IN LOVE!!!!!!