Sweet Potato Brownies

A recipe that a friend put up on Facebook a few days ago. My Husband and I discussed and I figured, why not try to make these brownies.

The sweet potatoes make the sugar much less bad for your pancreas and the maple syrup brings 54 antioxidants, or so they say.

If you expect brownie flavor, you will be disappointed, but they were edible (especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). ;-)

Sweet Potato Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup mashed sweet potato
½ cup smooth nut butter of choice (I recommend almond or cashew butter)
2 tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup cocoa powder
Handful of chocolate or carob chips (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a small cake/loaf pan
On the stove, melt nut butter with maple syrup
In a large bowl add the mashed sweet potato, melted nut butter and maple syrup, and cocoa powder and mix well
Fold in chocolate chips
Pour mixture into greased pan and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing and refrigerating

These brownies are best when cooled completely. Store in fridge or freezer and ENJOY!

Continuing A "Family" Tradition

I don't do them often, but today I am going to throw it WAY back to 1978.

The first photo is of my Dad, rebuilding the engine of my Brother's first car, a 1967 (I think) Chevy Impala. It was a 3 on the column stick and my Brother loved it.

They got it for a good price, because it wasn't working. So my Dad took on the project of fixing the car, in his spare time. Probably on vacation, since it took quite a bit to make it work again. He literally sat in that engine for days, cutting the cylinders, so he could take out the pistons and put in new ones. It was quite a mess, but he got it done. That is because he was a bus mechanic, by trade. Rebuilding engines was his specialty.

Talk about your busman's holiday...

Fast forward to 2016, almost 38 years later and there is his Grandson (my Son) working on a 2016 Chevy Camaro. Though the decades have passed, my Son obviously takes after his Grandfather.

He has no real interest in cars and normally does nothing with them...but his genes know what to do.

In EcoCar3, he is doing many things that my Dad would be so proud of and that makes me proud.

Crock Pot Butter Chicken

I have had this recipe for months now. I fully intended to make it, but I got turned off by grabbing simmer sauce and using it, instead of using these ingredients. It was a less than stellar attempt at Butter Chicken.

Well, this weekend was a rainy one and I decided to try again, but I did not want to make it in the crock pot. So I used a fry pan instead. The ingredients are exactly the same, except I used the butter to cook the onions, garlic, ginger and chicken, before adding the rest of the ingredients.

This recipe was ready to eat within an hour. Great taste and it does go wonderfully with Naan. You can get frozen naan at Trader Joe's (in the freezer section).

Note: I did not make the notes you see in the printed version of the recipe.

Crock Pot Butter Chicken

Ingredients

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons curry powder
1-2 teaspoons curry paste ( I used Thai Red Curry Paste and 2 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons garam masala
1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric ( I used 1/2 since my family is not crazy about turmeric)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less if you are not a spicy person)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, regular or lite (I used regular), plus more if needed to thin the sauce
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used 0%)
1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
cooked white rice, for serving
Fresh homemade Naan, for scooping (a must!)

Instructions

In a large glass measuring cup or bowl mix together the coconut milk, Greek yogurt and cream. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger and all the spices. Mix well.

Spray the inside of your crock pot bowl with cooking spray or grease with olive oil. To the bowl sprinkle the onion over the bottom. Add the chicken and then pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken so the chicken is completely covered. Add the butter and place the lid on the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. I like to stir mine once or twice during cooking, but it is not necessary. When ready to serve taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.

Serve over rice with a big piece of fresh Naan

My 31st Order From Abundant Harvest Organics

So I screwed up...

When you want to be on vacation, you have to tell them, otherwise you get a box a week.

Well I guess I had come to the end of when I was going to be vacationing and so I got billed for a box, even though I had just gotten one. Such is life.

In good things, it made me decide to make Carrot Ginger Soup again, since I have a bunch of carrots. It comes out sooooo good.

So, here's what is in the box this week. Much the same as last week.

4 Apples

1 Orange

1 head Broccoli

4 Carrots

1 head Cauliflower

1 bunch of French Tarragon

2 Green Garlic

1 bunch of Kale

1 bunch of Red and Green Lettuce

1 bunch of Red Mustard Greens

1 basket of Snow Peas

1 basket of Strawberries

I ate some of the snow peas in a large salad I made on Saturday. I finished last weeks kale and so I have this one, for the future. The broccoli is being eaten (never a problem there).

The rest, will hopefully go.

See you in a month (I need some time off from produce). :-)

Meditation On A Rainy Day

My Water Post For Today.

OK, I admit that there is not much in the way of water in this post.

The thing that amazed me, when I passed by the Labyrinth at St. Joseph's Hospital on Friday, was the fact that a person was meditating...in the rain.

Not like it was raining a lot. We seem to get sprinkles, instead of heavy rain, but still. Sitting on the ground in the drizzle is a bit unusual, but really makes for a stunning photo.

I hope you enjoy the serenity of the photo (I know I really do) and I promise more wet stuff next Monday. :-)

Willow Tree Angel

I have been going over to the hospital next to my workplace, quite a bit.

I stopped in at their gift store today and found myself at the half price off Christmas shelf. I had bought a present for a friend there a month ago, so I knew it was way in the back of the shop.

So I am checking a few things out and I find this lovely angel who has 2015 hanging from her chain. She is about 5 inches tall and is only $9, since it is now 2016. I did not see anything wrong with buying a 2015 ornament and so since I actually had the money, she became mine.

When I got back to my office, I put what was written on the bottom of the ornament into Google, to try to find out her name.

What came up in my search was the same ornament, going for upwards of $38. Some were a little cheaper, so I can't confirm that this is the going rate for the lovely angel, but I feel I definitely got my monies worth.

Welcome to my life, little willow tree angel.

Lifetime Medical Television

In my earlier life (the one after the wedding but before the child), I used to work in production, especially electronic graphics. Originally we had an ancient form of character generator called The Compositor. I ran one of them, for years.

Then along came a production that wanted the high tech graphics machine and they would rent it for the day. That is how I came to learn how to operate a Chyron 4.

I was trained by a freelance operator, who was assigned to do the '84 Olympics and thus, not available for the summer. Note NBC was able to book every operator a year in advance and thus, KCET had no one they could get as a substitute. So, there I was, someone who did graphics for the station and I could be trained on this "Latest" invention, the Chyron 4.

It was an interesting thing to learn and as a matter of fact, I went to Chyron school in Melville, NY (on my own dime) and got even better at it. Trust me, the money I earned with these freelance gigs, help pay for the down payment on our house.

One of the shows I was trained to operate the Chyron for, was called Physicians Journal Update. It was a show that was broadcast on the Lifetime Network, which at the time was called Lifetime Medical Television. The shows were broadcast specifically on Doctor Sunday.

It was a show that discussed techniques in surgery and trends in health care and quoted articles in publications called JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).

Way over my head, but all I had to do was spell whatever they gave me, correctly. :-)

The other show that we did was called Specialty Update. More of the same, in my humble opinion.

I went looking for anything on the Internet, that discussed these shows and I did find an article and a video (which is where I got the screen capture). The person was lamenting the loss of this early form of the Lifetime Network and I agree that it brought back memories of a time and a place...and running bumpers.

I was so glad to have had the chance to learn professional Character Generator operation. Thanks to Lifetime...and the '84 Olympics.

EcoCar3 Heading Into Year 2's Competition In Yuma

The pressure is on for our intrepid EcoCar3 Team.

Deadlines are looming, for the hardest part of the challenge, creating a new car, from the carcass of the old one. In this case, a beautiful 2016 Chevy Camaro, that has about 100 miles on it. I cry every time I see this photo of the car without a trunk and engine. BTW, that is the engine hanging on the chains, right in front of the car.

The first deadline they have to hit, is to have new the electrical wiring harness installed into the car, with the batteries in place. This needs to be done and tested, before April 25th. Photo number 2 shows the wiring harness being tested, before the hook up of the batteries.

They were just about to test the system on the bench, before installing them into the car, when GM sent a cease and desist email telling the teams that 2 of the batteries have exploded and they need some time to figure out why.

My son was not happy, after spending the day hooking everything up.

This third photo shows Frank machining a shaft for the electrical/battery install.

He said it was going VERY slow, when we talked with him.

He stayed way past our 9:30PM departure time, though he lives close by, whereas we live an hour away.

The final drop dead deadline, is on May 10th, when the car leaves for Yuma, AZ.

Good luck to the team...they are going to need it.

Over the weekend, I baked some lemon bars for the team. I figure they could use some love from me. :-)

Sunrise Moonset (The First Of Spring 2016)

One of the best things that happen during the time of a full moon, is the fact that it seems to set, just around the time we working stiffs are getting up and getting ready leave our houses, to commute to work.

I have gotten into the habit of running outside around 6:45AM and checking things out. On some days, you can get a photo of the moon and the colors of the sunrise, happening all over the sky.

It's a fun time of the day.

This photo was taken on the morning of March 24th, Holy Thursday, to be exact. If you know anything about how Easter Week is decided, the moon has everything to do with it. In appreciation of that fact, God gave us a lovely moon too look at.

Friends Forever

We are lucky.

My Husband and his Army Buddy friend have managed to stay in touch for the past 49 years.

They mean a lot to each other.

They told us that a huge contingent of them were going to tandem drive over to Disneyland.

We immediately made plans for an impromptu dinner at Black Angus.

They had just gotten into town after the long drive from Phoenix. I took the day off and so we had all just driven down to Orange County.

Dinner ended up being at 6:30PM. Not too late, but enough time to give us both room to get into the very congested area of Los Angeles.

We were only missing our friend's Son, Wife and Daughter, which is pretty good for us. We ended up with our friend and his Wife, their Daughter and her Husband and the two Granddaughters.

The oldest Granddaughter will be marching in the parade on Saturday and then performing on a stage by Toontown, on Sunday.

It's a big deal, but it will cost the families quite a bit of money, since tickets are $100.

A once in a lifetime event, that is worth the price of admission.

Power Outage & Water Shortage

Today is Tuesday.

You would think today would be just another normal Tuesday, but you would be wrong.

This week Castaic Lake will have its outlet tower out of service and so we will have no water coming from the State Water Project. Just our local groundwater. Due to this fact, they have informed us that we will not be able to water our lawns, for the entire week. They did allow us to water all weekend and so that is what I did. 4 times in two days. My property must be wondering what the heck is going on. :-)

Of course I have just planted new grass 2 weeks ago and some of it is coming up, but I figure I will hand water it once in a while. In addition, rain is in the forecast toward the end of the week. It can't come soon enough for me.

As if that isn't enough, we are scheduled to have a power outage starting 8AM tomorrow. It is scheduled to come back on before 8PM.

I am not going to bet any money on those times, which is why this post is taking the place of the one I had scheduled. You will see that one on Wednesday morning.

See you on the other side of the power situation.

The photo above shows the the trucks in front of the approximate area where the electrical work will be going on. About 3 houses down, over on the left hand side of my street.

The Ducks Are Back (2016)

My Water Post For Today.

Since I spend time at St. Joseph's Hospital, more often than usual, I am keeping an eye out on the ducks. I have mentioned this pond before, btw, in case it looks familiar,HERE and HERE.

The ducks have arrived and are spending all their time on this award thing in the pond.

I am assuming that "Mama" duck will soon be hatching her next generation of ducks. The babies usually appear during the month of April.

Love this pond, it is so serene, with the ducks and the fish.

I hope you enjoy.

My 30th Order From Abundant Harvest Organics

It is spring and the first box of "spring" vegetables arrived at my pick up point yesterday.

It doesn't look much different from the winter boxes. :-)

Here is what I got.

3 Apples

3 Carrots

1 Head of Cauliflower

1 Bunch of Dill

1 Bunch of Kale

5 Lemons

1 Bunch of Mustard Greens

4 Oranges

6 Potatoes

1 Bunch of Radishes

1 Basket of Strawberries

It should not be too hard to drill down this bunch of produce. The Mustard Greens, being the only exotic thing.

See you next time.

Swiss Chard Sauteed With Parmesan Cheese

I needed to get rid of Swiss Chard, the other day.

It had been 3 weeks since I got it and I figured it was definitely time.

I found 2 recipes for chard and I ended up going with this one.

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese.

Recipe By:DannyBoy

"Lemon and Parmesan cheese season this simple, tasty recipe for Swiss chard on your stovetop!"

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately

1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste (optional)

Directions

Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the chard stems and the white wine. Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.

I did find a second recipe, but was in a hurry to go down to Orange County. Maybe someday I will make THIS one.

Headlights In The Night

Things have actually gotten better, this last week. That is after I took this photo of my neighbor's house, the other morning.

For some reason, our neighbors have been shining 2 lights at our house at night.

Our first thought is that they do it to keep raccoons and possibly coyotes from coming into their yard, at night.

The problem with the lights is that they shine directly into my bedroom, my family room and my kitchen. The kitchen has no window shades on it and so it makes that room very bright.

My bedroom also becomes brighter, even though I have curtains on my windows.

I keep thinking I should go up to their house and knock on their door, but I really don't want to.

Maybe seeing me taking these photos...was enough.