Lasting Light Poetry September 28, 2003 A warm hello......It's good to have some time with you again. Autumn is official now. We are still having very warm weather in California. These are beautiful days. I don't have a brand new poem, but I have a few offerings I hope you'll enjoy. ~ Deja Vu or Maybe New ~ I wrote "Autumn Serenade" a couple of years ago. I was fresh from a drive up through the Sierras and the trees were changing color. It was magical. The groves of birch trees were especially beautiful with the sunlight playing through the golden leaves. ~ Maybe summer is fading away, but "You and I" is about that peaceful time when the day's work is done. You go and sit a while with someone you care about. These are moments that matter. The best part of the day. ~ How about a walk? The simple pleasures of a "Country Stroll" are the subject of this poem. Join me now? Autumn Serenade http://lastinglight.com/serenade.html Autumn Serenade You and I http://lastinglight.com/youandi.html You and I Country Stroll http://lastinglight.com/stroll.html Country Stroll =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Deb's Spot Wee Inspirations - Deb's newest page My Wish For You - author Marie Williams http://weeinspirations.com/mywishforyou.html My Wish For You =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Recipes From The Board ~ The holidays will be upon us soon. The cooks at the Lasting Light Message Board are already bustling with ideas for good things to share. Cookies can be frozen (if you can resist the temptation!) I never met a cookie I didn't like! Anyway, here are some wonderful recipes straight from the best cooks around. Let's cook! ~ ~~ CORN PUDDING SQUARES ~ Posted by Beatrice 2 cans (15-1./4 oz each) whole kernel corn, undrained. 2 cans (14-3/4 oz each) cream-style corn 2 cups (16 oz) sour cream 1 cup margarine or butter, melted 2 pkgs. (8-1/2 oz each) corn bread or muffin mix 3 eggs In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until just combined. Pour into 2 greased 13x9x2" baking dishes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm. YIELD: 24 servings =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~ Schrafft's Butterscotch Cookies ~ Posted by Beatrice Many New Yorkers have such fond memories of Schrafft's large, crisp cookies that I decided to track down some of the recipes, particularly the one for butterscotch cookies with finely ground pecans, which seem to have been an all- time favorite. These cookies, I'm told, taste every bit as good as the originals. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature 3/4 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature (see Note) 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar 1 egg 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup finely chopped pecans INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking sheets. Combine the butter and shortening in a bowl and beat for a few seconds. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the egg, dry milk and vanilla and beat until light. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir with a fork to mix and lighten. Add to the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the pecans and mix well. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet. Dip the bottom of a 3-inch diameter drinking glass into flour and use it to press the dough into a circle of the same dimension. If the dough sticks a little as you lift off the glass, scrape it from the glass and pat any bits back into the circle of dough to make it even and neatly round. Dip the glass into flour after each use. Bake the cookies for 7 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and gently lift the cookies onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container. Yields about 30 cookies Serve them with fresh fruit or berries. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~ Tortilla Lasagna ~ Posted by Beatrice 2 pounds lean ground beef 1 large sweet onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. red pepper 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained 12 corn tortillas 1 16-oz. container cottage or ricotta cheese 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 2 cup lettuce shredded 2 fresh tomatoes, diced 1 cup black olives, sliced 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded Brown ground beef in a large skillet with onion and garlic. Add cumin, red pepper, cayenne pepper and diced tomatoes and cook over low-medium heat for several minutes. Remove from heat. Place 6 of the corn tortillas and the bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish and spread meat mixture evenly over tortillas. Top with remaining tortillas. Combine ricotta and Monterey Jack cheeses and mix well. Spread cheeses over tortillas and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives and cheddar cheese. Slice and serve =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~ Crockpot Cheddar Meat Loaf ~ Posted by Beatrice 3/4 cup crushed cheese crackers 1/4 cup minced onion 2 Tbsp. minced green bell pepper 1/4 cup chili sauce 1/2 cup milk 2 eggs; lightly beaten 1 1/2 lb. ground beef 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 jar cheese sauce; optional Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into round loaf. Place in crock. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours. Top servings with heated cheese sauce if desired. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Please consider posting your favorite cookie recipe on the Lasting Light Message Board. Cookie swaps are coming up for Christmas....I know you have something wonderful to share! ~ K. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Note From Karen ~ I know I've often mentioned how important encouragement is. You never know what you can do until you try. I am a prime example of this. When a new challenge comes my way, I sometimes talk myself out of it before I even begin. Why? Well, I guess I'm afraid it won't come out right or I'll fail. It's easy to stick to familiar territory and reaching farther takes courage. I've started working on my book of poems again........all because someone encouraged me when I reached out to them. God is good to send us angels when we need a lift. They take the form of human beings who show kindness and compassion beyond our expectation. I am thankful for all the angels in my life. Words of encouragement are like air and water. We all need them. Whatever the challenge is in your life, please know you aren't alone. I must remind myself that "failure" only means I tried. If we never try, we never grow. I can pick myself up and start again. Please consider taking that first step towards doing what you're longing to do. Make that phone call you've put off so long. Volunteer for that project you've been considering. Take a deep breath...and take the first step. It is the most empowering step of all. Enjoy these autumn days. The cooler evenings and the amazing sunsets. These joys don't cost a cent. There's a whole new palette of color unfolding out there. Life is good. Enjoy it. Shine on.........Karen Lasting Light Poetry http://lastinglight.com Lasting Light Poetry =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Something To Consider ~ Some homespun wit ....Posted by Dee Country Pearls - Don't name a pig you plan to eat. - Country fences need to be horse high, pig tight and bull strong. - Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce. - Keep skunks and bankers at a distance. - Life is simpler when you plow around the stumps. - Mortgaging a future crop is saddling a wobbly colt. - A bumble bee is faster than a John Deere tractor. - Trouble with a milk cow is she won't stay milked. - Don't skinny dip with snapping turtles. - Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled. - Meanness don't happen overnight. - To know how country folks are doing, look at their barns, not their houses. - Never lay an angry hand on a kid or an animal, it just ain't helpful. - Teachers, bankers, and hoot owls sleep with one eye open. - Forgive your enemies. It messes with their heads. - Don't sell your mule to buy a plow. - Two can live as cheap as one if one don't eat. - Don't corner something meaner than you. - You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, assuming you want to catch flies. - Man is the only critter who feels the need to label things as flowers or weeds. - It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge. - Don't go huntin' with a fellow named Chug-A-Lug. - You can't unsay a cruel thing. - Every path has some puddles. - When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. - The best sermons are lived, not preached. - Most of the stuff people worry about never happens. - Lazy and Quarrelsome are ugly sisters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTES ~ October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again. - Hal Borland There is a harmony In autumn, and a lustre in its sky, Which through the summer is not heard or seen, As if it could not be, as if it had not been! - Percy Bysshe Shelley All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken. - Thomas Wolfe Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus Once more the liberal year laughs out O'er richer stores than gems or gold: Once more with harvest song and shout Is nature's boldest triumph told. - John Greenleaf Whittier Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. - Stanley Horowitz =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Until Next Time........Share a smile. Someone might need to borrow it. Be well.............Hugs, Karen =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ARCHIVE HOME Background graphics and creation of this site Copyright © 2003 "Lasting Light Poetry" and Dreamwork Designs All Rights Reserved