Sadhvi

Ok, I know I am not the most up-to-date person on the latest movies.  There are so many new ones that come out that even my most avid movie-going friends can’t remember complete titles anymore when they share the latest ones they just saw with me!  Or if they can remember, the anmes all sound alike.  Persoanlly, I think that all the movie titles have been taken by now, and that the ones that come out are just a random mix of all the previous ones.  My husband watches a lot of movies, and usually, only good ones.  He said that I had to see “Gigantic”, and I liked it so much that I want to share it with you.  I know it came out in April of 2009, so please forgive me.  It’s all good and we are all one anyway, right?  I have a feeling that you haven’t seen this one though.  It has some of my favorite actors in it, and I found it refreshing.  Take a look at the trailer and if you get a chance, jot it down to see one day.  I think you will enjoy it!

Sadhvi

I listened to Bloomberg News on the radio while driving back from Cleveland this past weekend.  That was over 8 hours of pure fascination hearing the latest scandals, news, and interviews on the health of our nation’s economy.  I should tell you that I have never listened to this kind of news since I have been living on the edge my whole life, travelling a different path than what might be called “the norm”.   

Here is what I heard: there was talk the whole day about the big H-P (Hewlett Packard) scandal that not only ruined CEO Mark Hurd’s reputation (although the 28 million dollar severance package should help get him over the shame of the sexual harassment charges, and I heard he is actually negotiating for more!), but H-P’s stocks fell sharply. 

Then the 2nd quarter reports were in and would you believe Goldman Sachs broke a record in that for the first time in 3 years, there were 3 consecutive days of losses!!!   After hearing this over and over while driving through towns so depressed that they felt dead, what I suddenly realized was that not once did I hear what Goldman Sachs made in the other 87 days!  I have a feeling that it was just too obscene to report.  Ok, I just Googled it, and they only posted a profit of $613 million, or 78 cents a share, down from $3.43 billion.

The company reporting the most profit surprised me: it’s McDonald’s!  It seems they are hugely popular in Europe, and Japan, and then of course, the US of A, solely because of their “Dollar Meals”!  That means that more people are eating a meal for a dollar in America…is that a good thing?

There was a bit of news on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being in trouble, and mabye even going under, but hey, didn’t they just get a huge amount of money a few months ago from the government to bail them out of something, and are they anyway not government owned?

 By now, if you are still reading this, you might be catching my drift…I cannot keep up!

So I think I will do something that makes me happy, like go disappear in my garden for a while and commune with the flowers and vegetables.  And the next time I take a road trip, I think I will stick with my own music mixes! 

Sadhvi's Mexican Torchflower

Sadhvi

I am about to go on a road trip to visit my family in Cleveland, Ohio.  I am really looking forward to it because I like driving and I get to spend some real time with my husband.   And, I find it so relaxing driving through parts of this beautiful country that are not considered tourist areas…like West Virginia!  I also like to get those tin cans or glass jars of Starbucks coffee and drink them along the way. 

They taste good, and they give me a buzz, and hey, they can’t be that bad for you since it’s just coffee and water and some sugar, right? 

Well, I guess I was wrong, because it turns out that drinking one of those Starbucks Frappaccino’s is like eating a bunch of Nabisco’s Nilla Wafers.  Now I know why I am obese!!!  Seriously, click on the link below and take a look at this article from  Men’s Health that shows what the sugar equivalent is on mine and your favorite cold drinks: I am still in shock!

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/worst-water?slideshow=184612#title

What USED to be my favorite coffee drink!

Sadhvi

I need to share this.  A good friend of mine sent it to me, and asked if I could post it.  I just got done watching this YouTube video and it gave me goosebumps.  That always happens to me when I hear the Truth.  Take a look, and see how it affects you.  It is time to end the war.  It is time to wake up!

Sadhvi

It’s the 4th of July tomorrow, so before the summer is over, I want to share some pictures of the poppies that came up this spring in my garden.  I think I might have one or two that are blooming right now, but most are gone.  I’ve seen a couple of birds eating the seeds out of the pods, which helps the seeds to spread.   I always save some seeds to give to others…there is always more than enough poppy seeds to go around!

I picked my favorite pictures so I hope you enjoy them.  For me, having some joy in my life is important.  I don’t think I would be still around at 52 if I didn’t!  So I have planted my garden only with the flowers that make me happy.  It’s one of the main reasons that I love living in Western North Carolina.  It has such a long growing season.  Oh, one of the best sources of poppy seeds to plant is the online store onestoppoppyshoppe.  Seriously, this is the place to go and get you some poppy seeds!  They have an amazing selection…just looking through their online store is a simple delight!

So, on with the show…it really was a spectacular season of poppies! 

Pink Poppy

Purple Poppy

Watermelon Poppy

  

White Mauve Poppy

Red Orange Oriental Poppy

Double Red Poppies

 

 

Poppy close up

Oriental Poppies Group Shot

Poppy and Calendula

Sadhvi

I know this one has been around for a while, but, I love to watch this ad for Evian. And since it is so damned hot where I live, I can’t help but think this is going to be how I dress when I have to go out. I think diapers with a little t-shirt might be the only way I can survive this heat wave if it continues!

Sadhvi

OK, I do have a Twitter account.  I think I have like 12 followers, all men in India who want to “connect”.  Awesome, huh.  Thankfully, one of my favorite people on the planet “tweets” on a regular basis.  This is a good thing because he is not only funny, but what he has to say is so damn interesting.  B.E. (before email), we used to correspond a lot by writing letters.  Getting a letter in the mail from him was a delight that is hard to top these days with so many ways to communicate.  He “tweeted” something today that I want to share.  So I guess that means I am “retweeting” it?  Frankly, couldn’t they have picked a different phrase?  Anyways, all week long I have been kind of bothered by the lack of news coverage and the fact that no one seems to be seriously dealing with this catastrophic disaster.  Oh, I forgot:  it’s the 2010 World Cup of Soccer!  Even Huffington Post replaced it’s  ”The Gulf Oil Disaster” link with the World Cup link.  Awesome, huh?   While talking on the phone with my friend, he said that, “Sadhvi, it could be that there IS no solution.”  OMG.  LOL.  HELP.  My  friend figured out what the amount of oil might look like on his website.  Take a look.  Goooooaaaaaalllll!

Sadhvi

BP disaster hits home.  Center this map on your home town to better understand the terrifying scope.

http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/

Sadhvi

It feels like ages since I’ve posted something.  I had a really bad cold, and I didn’t feel like doing anything for a couple of weeks.  I also turned 52.

I had this urge to bake a chocolate cake with white, fluffy icing just like my grandma, Mabel Carter, used to make.  I never made her “7 minute frosting” before, but I thought it was high time now that I am starting to look like her!

After looking hard and not being able to find her recipe in my collection, I decided to make one that sounded just like hers, called “Wonderful Marshmallow-Like Frosting” by Susan Branch that is in her Sweets to the Sweet book.  She has a cult following, and I am one of her groupies.  Here’s what she says, followed by the recipe:

“The classic boiled frosting, pure white, shiny and fluffy.  You’ll need a candy thermometer.

1/3 c. water                                        a pinch of salt

1 c. sugar                                           2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar           1 tsp. vanilla

Stir the water, sugar, cream of tartar & salt together in a small, heavy-bottomed pan.  Hook a candy thermometer to the edge of the pan & boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240 F.  In the meantime, beat egg whites until stiff.  Pour the 240F syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick & glossy.  Stir in the vanilla.  Now frost the cake!

I found a simple chocolate cake recipe called “Gateau Therese” in David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris.  This is a must read book, by the way.  The following is what he has to say about it…

“Every Frenchwoman I know loves chocolate so much she has a chocolate cake in her repertoire that she’s committed to memory, one she can make on a moment’s notice.  This one comes from Therese Pella, who lives across the boulevard from me; when I first tasted the cake, I swooned from the rich, dark chocolate flavor and insisted on the recipe.

Madame Pellas is fanatical about making the cake 2 days in advance and storing it in her kitchen cabinet before serving, which she says improves the chocolate flavor.  And the Brie she keeps in there as well doesn’t seem to mind the company…”

I actually use just one stick of butter, which is probably a few grams less than what is called for, and, since most of my friends are into gluten-free eating, I use ground almonds instead of flour.

9 ounces (250g) bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate, chopped

8 T. (120 g) butter

1/3 cp. (65 g) sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature, separated

2 T. ground almonds

A pinch of salt

Try this recipe…it’s really really good.

And, oh, thankfully, it’s Spring!

Sadhvi

I tried to fax one piece of paper to a client of mine today.  It didn’t go through.  Hmmm, I called her to tell her that there seemed to be a problem.  I asked her if she had gotten any faxes recently?  She said no, that actually, she had never received one; she just sends faxes on occasion.  Well, she tried to find out if she could get it working, and couldn’t.  Too bad, right?

Then I emailed a terrific coupon to a friend of mine  from the local health food store: a pound of organic coffee and a big package of granola for free, with any purchase – wow!  My friend wrote me back saying thanks, but her printer wasn’t working today.  Darn!

iPhone

My husband rarely gets any bars around where we live with his iPhone because the service is so bad with AT&T.  But it’s supposed to be so great now that our area has finally got 3G service, and now I see they even offer 4G service – oh boy!  It never makes any sense to me as to why someone would want a cell phone with little or no coverage, unless it was really just a toy, which it is.  I had one for about 3 days, which was the limit of my patience with no coverage.  Strange enough though, the comments I got from people just seeing me holding that worthless phone were kind of funny…they all thought I looked cool holding it!

Then I get an email from a friend saying I should check out this system called EVERNOTE that says it will help me  ”Remember everything”.  Now that is a tempting proposal, but really, just looking at their web site just made my migraine worse (click on the big bold EVERNOTE link above and see if you don’t get an immediate reaction to run away.  I double dare you.)

I cannot handle another thing to make my life simpler, and that includes hearing about it either…including, but not limited to: Kindle, the latest Smart Phone, the new GPS device, getting more business using Twitter, or any of the  other new and wonderful Social Media that keeps making me feel like I have to keep up…that’s it, I think I have reached my limit!

Instead of trying to keep up with the latest s0-called technology, I am going to go back to what I enjoy the most: recipes and gardening.  And being curious about other people…maybe I will start to interview my interesting friends and family for a while.

Now excuse me, I have to go through the emails that came in while I was writing this post before they build up to the point where it becomes my new part-time job.

Giuseppe replied to the assembled husbands,  “Wella, I’ve a-tried to treat-a her nicea, spenda da money on her, but besta of alla is, I tooka her to Italy for the 25th anniversary!”

The priest responded, “Giuseppe, you are an amazing inspiration to all the husbands here!  Please tell us what you are planning for your wife for your 50th anniversary?”

Giuseppe proudly replied, “I’m a gonna go get her.”

Or that my brain is too full, trying to remember who only gets email at their home address, or who only answers text messages, or who doesn’t get cell phone coverage on their iPhone to even get their emails or messages? Or even, who doesn’t respond to anything any more! It’s funny, in this age where the whole hype of social media, and how to be connected is all that people talk about–as if it’s a game to see who has the “latest” gadget–I am becoming more and more disinterested in staying in touch with “friends”.

The truth is, FaceBook was ok when I had a hundred or so friends, but now that I have almost 300, I cannot keep up with what is happening with them all. And frankly, I don’t even care.

I don’t think I will be getting a smart phone any time soon. I really don’t want to take pictures with my phone: I have a really good digital camera that works fine. And I don’t want to type emails to anyone with that ridiculously small keypad. I have a computer with a keyboard the size that I have been typing my whole life on and feel comfortable with. Why change if I am fine with what I have? And why would I want to send and receive text messages? If I want to chat with someone, I can email, pick up the phone, or if I really want to take a little vacation from my day, I can actually sitdown and write a letter or send one of the many beautiful cards I have collected over the years, or even one of my own hand-painted cards.

Here is a little clip for those that dare see where we are going, or should I say, where some people are going – because I may just stay where I am, with the technology that I have.

P.S. Oh, if you feel like it, I would really like to know where YOU are with all that is available to us and costs a small fortune, I might add! Are you trying to keep up? Have you decided that you are ok with just a computer and a cell phone too?

I like to make cookies to give to family and friends around this time of the year.   They must be easy, delicious, and wildly appreciated as well!  So here is probably my favorite cookie recipe that comes from my husband’s hometown of Basel, Switzerland.  There are so many different recipes for the “Basler Brunsli’s,” but this one is the one I like because it is so simple to make, and everyone just loves to get it, including those people who cannot eat gluten. 

There is a bakery in Basel that sells them the whole year, and when I lived there, I would often pop into the shop during the dreary months of February and get a small bag. 

One thing that thrilled me and I found so special about the Swiss is that no matter how much or how little one buys, they will always ask if you want it gift wrapped, and they will do it so beautifully for you.   

A Christmas Market in Switzerland

The translation of “Brunsli” is “little brownie”, but really this cookie tastes nothing like your typical American brownie…it is made with ground almonds (which, if you are lucky, can be bought in bulk at your local grocery store, or online  at Bob’s Mill (www.bobsredmill.com) ), or you can just grind your own almonds.  Oh, and make sure that you put lots of good wishes and love into them when you make them…I always like to say, “Anyone who eats these will have a good life feel loved!”, or something like that.  It can’t hurt, and I do believe those wishes get transmitted through the cookies to those that eat them.  Happy Holidays!

SADHVI’S FAVORITE “BASLER BRUNSLI” RECIPE 

1 cup (225 g) finely ground almonds (with the shell)

1 cup (225 g) powdered sugar 

3.5 T. (50 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 vanilla beans 

2 egg whites 

1 pinch salt 

2 T. Kirsch 

1. Put the ground almonds in a big bowl.

2. Get a big sieve and measure out the powdered sugar & cocoa and press it through the sieve with a spoon into the bowl w/the ground almonds, or use a sifter, if you have one!

&

mix it with a wooden spoon.

 3. Split the vanilla beans and put the seeds into the big bowl w/ everything.

(You can substitute some good quality vanilla extract or a pack of vanilla sugar as well) 

4. Put the egg whites with the pinch of salt in a little mixing bowl….whip up so it is starting to get foamy, but not stiff! 

5. Add the Kirsch to the egg white mixture, and then add it to the almond mix. Quickly make a dough, imagining that everyone who eats one of these will have a wonderful life.

 6. Put the whole bowl in the refrigerator, covered, for an hour or so.

7. Roll out dough, kind of thick (½ inch) and make into shapes and forms.

My favorite is heart-shaped, and this is the traditional way. 

8. Place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper

8. Let them sit over night at room temperature, to dry out, covered, with a dish drying towel.

9. Preheat oven to 480 F on the next day and bake for 4-5 min.

That’s it.  Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!!!

Ok, it’s Thanksgving week, and lots of people have asked my husband, the Chestnut Roaster of Asheville, for a good stuffing recipe using chestnuts.

Well, here’s one that I like.   It’s easy, as all stuffing recipes are, really, and it is very tasty.

Chestnut & Bacon Stuffing

• ¼ pound Bacon, chopped
• 3 Celery Stalks, finely chopped
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 ¼ cup cooked & peeled Chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups fresh Breadcrumbs
• The juice and finely grated zest of 1 Lemon
• The juice and finely grated zest of 1 Orange
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 T. chopped fresh Sage
• salt and pepper to taste

1.  Fry the bacon until browned.  Add the celery & onion, and fry for around 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, along with the cooked bacon, celery & onion mixture, and combine thoroughly.

3.  Pack the stuffing loosely in the neck and body cavity of the bird.

(Or, alternatively, preheat oven to 325F and bake stuffing in a greased and covered casserole dish for around 30 min.)

If you do bake this stuffing on its own, serve with gravy because the flavors blend nicely and will temper the sharpness of the citrus.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sadhvi

Ok, it’s fall, and it’s time to start letting go of the past.  That includes the memories of my summer garden and flowers.  I have aired out my woolen sweaters and will do my final garden planting next week.  I bought some “end of the season” deals at a local greenhouse…some Oriental Poppies and some Blue Veronica for $1 a pot!  I cleaned out my car and did some detailed deep cleaning; the furnace is serviced; the oil tank is full.  My Swiss husband will start roasting chestnuts next week,  and that, my dear reader, brings me to the reason I can say, without any hesitation, that I know I will make it through fall and winter: yes, freshly roasted chestnuts!  As long as I can remember, I have felt more than a wee bit melancholic about the prospect of cold, damp and cloudy days.  Growing up in Cleveland, I felt that winter was something that one simply endured.  There was not much sun; clouds were hanging low for weeks on end, and then there was the bitter cold and wind.  I felt quite some comfort in the fact that we were all in it together.  Why, even today I feel a certain compassion and kinship for anyone from the Northeast.  And living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland meant that, for us,  the winters were worse than the ones in Cleveland, with a cold dampness that seemed to go right to the bone.  I am even starting to feel uncomfortable just writing about it!  So, to help those that have the long fall and winter months to look forward to, I will start sharing in next week’s “Sadhvi Sez” what I know about chestnuts: my secret cure against the fall and winter blues.  Until then, start humming…and think spring!

Their biggest fear was that there was no afterlife.

After a long life together, the husband was the first to die.

 True to his word, he made the first contact, “Ivy…Ivy!”

 ”Is that you, Richard?”

 ”Yes, I’ve come back like we agreed”.

 ”That’s wonderful!  What’s it like?”

 ”Well, I get up in the morning, and then I have sex.

Then I have breakfast and then it’s off to the golf course.

Then I have sex again, bathe in the warm sun and then have sex a couple of more times.

Then I have lunch (you’d be proud: lots of greens!) another romp, then ’round the golf course, then pretty much have sex the rest of the afternoon.

After supper, it’s back to the golf course again, and then it’s more sex until late at night.

I then usually catch some much-needed sleep and then the next day it starts all over again.”

 ”Oh Richard, you surely must be in heaven!”

 ”Not exactly…I’m a rabbit on a golf course in South Carolina!”