My basic green smoothie recipe

1 banana, quartered
2 or 3 handfuls of fruit (anything goes)
some leaves of romaine, ripped up to make about 2 handfuls
a small handful of "little sprout thingies" - I'll try to remember to add their real name later - MICRO GREENS - that's it, thanks, Ginger!
varietal dark greens
about a cup of water
about a tablespoon of organic, filtered, cold-pressed flaxseed oil

Variations:
a few raw almonds (soaked) - makes it a crunchy smoothie
other veggies

Tips:
- Put the fruit on the bottom of the blender. If I start with the greens, I have to get a spoon and shove things around.
- Most blenders will work. Mine leaves more texture in the smoothie than Ginger's, but it does the job.

Blend to desired consistency.

Makes about 20 ounces of smoothie, which I drink in its entirety for breakfast. It is surprisingly filling and satisfying. Yesterday, I lost track of time and didn't go down to the cafeteria before it closed. I was fine all day, drank a pint of milk and ate some raw almonds about 5, got home about 9 and had dinner. No problem with low blood sugar (and I usually have a problem with low blood sugar).

Good advice

Remember that you only have to take one step at a time.
Breathe, baby.
Have fun!

In one IM conversation, these were the bits of advice I offered to a friend. Trite? Perhaps. Easy to say? Definitely. Bad advice? Not even close. Those are the Big Three for not only coping with but enjoying what life throws at you.

Here's one more: When things get stressful, remember the Big Three.

I think that's the hardest part.

A literary feast

MJ brought home a treasure from the library: Erica Bauermeister's utterly delicious debut novel, The School of Essential Ingredients. The flavors and scents and feelings and dreams contained in this book are beyond description, and yet Ms. Bauermeister describes every one, in poignant and lyrical fashion. I give it my strongest recommendation, accompanied by the suggestion that you not read too much about the story before you read the story itself.

Here is just one very small sample of the numerous passages—pick a page, any page!—that moved me:

Over the hours, the labor pains had sharpened... She kept thinking the waves would slow or break for a moment, but they didn't, one after another until there was nowhere left to go but in, to dive down and hope for air on the other side, but there was no air, no way out, just a desperate reaching and grasping until finally she felt something deep inside her—not physical, not emotional, simply her—break into pieces. And into the arms of that cracked-apart person that had been Claire, they placed a baby and a love came out of her, through the pieces, that she didn't even know was possible.

Warning: After reading this book, you will almost certainly be headed for the market in search of your own essential ingredients. Buon appetito!

Hula hoop recipe

Yield: 8 to 10 hoops

Supplies:
- 100' of 3/4-inch flex poly tubing (used in sprinkler systems)
- 8 to 10 double-ended 3/4-inch nipple connectors
- Duct tape for closing hoops (optional)
- Multicolored electrical tape for weighting and decorating hoops

Tools:
- Something sharp that can cut cleanly through the tubing
- Hot water or a hair dryer to soften the tubing (or really strong hands)

To make a hoop:
Measure out and cut enough tubing to make a hoop that, when stood on edge, reaches somewhere between the hooper's bellybutton and chest. (For me, that's between 11 and 12 feet of tubing. Yes, these hoops are larger than toy-store hoops; that's what makes them so fun and easy to use.)

Insert connector and shove hoop edges tightly together. Wrap seam securely in duct or electrical tape. Decorate with electrical tape, being careful not to add so much tape that the hoop gets too heavy for your skills and energy level. (We have hoops with no decoration at all.)

To hula hoop:
Position the hoop at about waist level and give it a good spin. Move your hips slightly to keep the hoop in motion. It doesn't take a big motion, and you can choose to go front to back or side to side or sort of all around. Click here to view many demonstrations.

With MANY thanks to Dana the Coffee Goddess for instructions, tips, and hours of fun!

Friday fill-in

1. Family time, especially in the sunshine, and especially on the road, makes me happy. (The memory that leapt to mind when I wrote this: hiking with the girls up to the blessedly cool pools on the Romero Canyon Trail out of Catalina State Park in Arizona.)

2. I would like a housekeeper like Alice, please.


3. Monkey Bread tastes SO good!
Note to my readers who speak the Queen's English (or a different variation thereof)—the "biscuits" are dinner rolls, not cookies.

4. Friday is my favorite day of the week because the whole weekend is stretched out in front of me, full of possibilities.

5. My perseverance is my best feature.

6. We could learn so much from closing every school in the world.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm REALLY looking forward to getting ready for Non-Con North, tomorrow my plans include getting ready for Non-Con North, and Sunday, I want to get ready for Non-Con North! (Get the picture?)


Have a great weekend, everybody!

Nummies

Here is one of my favorite holiday recipes. It comes from Nina, who was a good friend to my Grandma Barb (Chloe Barbara's namesake) and later—in one of life's delicious little coincidences—my next door neighbor. Not long after they moved in, Lynn and I knocked on their door for some reason. Nina took one look at us and said, "Who are your parents?"

I've doubled the recipe, because, hey, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Nina's Chess Pie
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
6 egg yolks
2/3 c. milk
1-1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
2 c. cooked raisins
4 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter with sugar. Add egg yolks, milk, chopped nuts, raisins, and vanilla. Cook in double boiler about 20 minutes until thick(er) and a dark caramel color. Serve in tart shells topped with whipped cream, or (the way we do it around here) as-is by the spoonful.