Respect your Elder...berries!

Good mor...er..afternoon.....

heck the post has been running around my mind since Friday....with a thousand other thoughts and after being able to;
get the soup on (that's right Mr Macdaddy...soup it is!) 
the sourdough bread rising
multiple piles of smelly, pukie laundry caught up
living room carpet shampooed because well.... a huge splotchy stain of you guessed it. ..was gracing the middle...
multiple noses wiped multiple times
puke buckets disposed of properly in the hazard waste sight
kids picked up...thank you friends and neighbors that did car pool duty for me this morning!
and teeth brushed...forget showering today..the minute I sneak one of those in...a whole new round of puking will commence...

I can sit down at the computer...for a second a spew (because that seems to be the popular thing around here right now!) some things I learned this weekend.

And as a side note....I only tell you the above list, because I know that you ladies do this and more every day and can feel my pain!

Now before things turned south, I had a wonderful Friday morning excursion with Mr Macdaddy up the canyon...berry picking...and it means exactly that!  We went just a few minutes from our house and picked two bucket loads of elderberries!!!  Once made into jelly....elderberry is the Cadillac among fellow fruity spreads!  Now before I was married...I had never heard of such a berry....and gasp... it was almost a deal breaker...for the marriage...you just don't have sour dough biscuits without elderberry jelly! Unheard of!!  Practically a sin!!!  It is now a staple in our refridg-or-ator!

And thank you to the internet I can Google about anything I want to and I discovered while looking for a recipe to make Elderberry Syrup, the very life saving benefits of this precious little treat of health! Just read this...

• The most important benefit of elderberry juice is its ability to prevent and cure illnesses related to the respiratory system like asthma, bronchitis, common cold, sore throat, cough and flu or influenza. It reduces mucus secretions and inflammation of the sinus and mucous membranes, and also helps drain the sinus of mucus, thereby reducing nasal congestion caused due to sinusitis.
• It has proved to be extremely effective in the treatment and cure of flu and was also used to treat people suffering from flu during an epidemic in Panama in 1995. Elderberry juice contains sambucus nigra agglutinins that protects healthy cells in the body from being infected by flu.
• The large amount of vitamins, especially vitamin C, that elderberry juice contains makes it very beneficial in the treatment of ailments caused due to viral and bacterial infections.
• Another very important benefit of elderberry juice is its ability to prevent and treat cancer, a fact attributed to the antioxidants that it contains. Elderberry juice contains bioflavonoids that are known to be the most effective antioxidants for the prevention of human cell damage.
• Elderberry juice boosts the immune system which can be quite helpful in treating diseases like AIDS and cancer.
• Elderberry juice is known to lower cholesterol levels and reduce bad cholesterol. This can be highly beneficial in preventing the various heart related disorders.
• Using elderberry juice for culinary purposes helps improve and maintain a healthy digestive system.
• The harmful effects of environmental pollution, stress, and unhealthy eating can be prevented and reduced by the daily consumption of elderberry juice.
• Elderberry juice concentrate benefits include prevention and cure of diabetes, protection against viral infections, and chest congestion. It has anti-viral, anti-histamine and anti-oxidant properties and its daily consumption can be very beneficial for overall well being.
• Consuming elderberry juice also helps prevent and cure hemorrhoids, constipation, and diarrhea. It also improves heart and kidney health, improves vision, cures yeast infections, and urinary tract infections.
• Consumption of elderberry juice on a regular basis helps clear complexion of blemishes and dark spots. It can delay the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and helps reduce acne breakouts. Read more on juice fasting recipes.

Now  for  those that know Mr Mackdaddy's grandma and family...just why they were so dang beautiful!  It was all in the Eldeberry!!

So I juiced them all, made some jelly that we can't live without, but I also made some juice that we will be sipping on throughout the year...because I am all about preventing the little bout of catastrophe that has been goin on around here!

If you want more you can read about Elderberry juice here and here and it tastes good!!!! I don't know about you, but I would much rather drink elderberry juice then go get a shot in the arm.....that I don't trust....but that is just me!!

In making the juice, I have a steamer, that I wash and de-stem the berries from the branches (don't steam or cook or eat the leaves, branches or bark.....they can be poisonous!) and throw the berries in for about an hour...towards the end I pour hot water over the berries to get every last ounce of juice that I can..

After I have the juice you can then make it into jelly, syrup or juice.  To make my juice, I mixed it with honey...which is a very healthy remedy for colds and flu!  by about 4 to 1.  I had 16 cups of juice, and I added 4 cups of honey...you could also use blue aguave..with its own health benefits, or sugar!), I heated this to just below a boil, the filled glass bottles and processed in a water bath for 15 minutes!  It is good!!!  In some of the recipes they used equal amounts of sweetener to the juice...I like the more natural taste!

And it makes me feel domestic and like I have a little piece of the farm......which.....

It looks as if we will staying our pretty little booties, here in our condo...forever...maybe when my oldest marries in ten years..I can convince him to rent the place from us so we can move on....

but whatever the reason...I will blog about that tomorrow!

say what? 

Lover yer berry lovin guts!

...it could always be worse

It's been one of those days....

where I shouldn't get dressed, let alone get outta bed....

but out I did get at 5 am....to two bright eyed and bushy tailed mctwins.....laughing and ready to play.  Later they repay my kindness, by sleeping the morning away.....while I clean/laundry/sit on the couch and eat bonbons.

On this day not only would our second laptop in less then a year take a dive off a high cliff, with all of our pictures downloaded on one or the other, our a/c would also poop out....(a special shout out goes tot he builder who put in a way too small unit!...you're the best!) but thankfully September finds us cool enough to open the windows and let in a fresh breeze...

andto top it off...Mctwin # 2 would use me as a puking basin...that was great....warm, slightly curdled and totally disgusting....I wonder if there is some benefits to the skin?

No...just checking.....


but here I sit...laughing and blogging about it....

because if I don't, I will bawl.....which will get me no where but a headache and blotchy eyes

and because as a wise friend says...."it could always be worse"....

 and it can......

in less then six months we have been to the ER no less then FIVE times, two of which consisted of overnight/extended day stays, this does not even count the ear infections, shoulder dislocations and tears and physicals and well baby checks.

Thankfully we have had excellent hospitals and healthy outcomes...with a few scars to show for it all.

...and after dealing with insurance companies on a few of these situations......I had had enough.....

so I made cake pops...

oh, you have heard of them

pure deliciousness....

I took pictures, but my ancient pc won't recognize the camera...so please use your imagination!

This all came about because yesterday I was making a cake for a funeral dinner...and it fell. So I needed to make another one...because heaven help us...there was no hiding a 2 inch hole in the middle and I couldn't pull off this story here.  Thankfully the second cake held up; thank you cousin Rachel for that recipe, and I only burned the coconut topping under the broiler....

After dropping the cake off to feed the intended persons.....I had an extra horrendously ugly cake.... that still tasted yummy.  having just received a family cookbook from my cousin who complied more then 400 recipes from her family (I promise the check is in the mail!) and perused it while salivating.....I saw the recipe for cake pops from cousin Mandy.....and it looked fabulously easy, whereas some of the recipes I have seen...well seemed to take too much time....

so we crumbled the cake, whipped up a batch of peanut butter frosting, mixed it furiously...and set it in the fridge for a couple of hours to cool....later while finally being able to watch"Parenthood" finally!!! and if you didn't see it last season...please tune in...so funny...I laugh...because....well I think they have read some of my mind!!

I rolled the cake/frosting mixture into balls and stick a lollipop stick in it...not so hard.... and stuck them in the freezer. And today...I dipped them in chocolate ganosh....and it was good...........

Thanks to Bakerella,  where you can find recipes and directions galore the world is a much better place because although mine aren't half as pretty, I know that we are all happier people because we are eating cake off a stick....

and things can always be worse.....

so off I go to have another cake pop, count my blessings and try to fix my camera.....

love yer guts for making my world better!

Am I gettin' old?

I ate oatmeal...again....scratch your head and cover your eyes in fear...

I ate it like 3 times last week....and I plan on eating it pretty much all of this week.

I even...gasp....put dried blueberries in it.....

I know to some that this is ordinary getup and eat breakfast and go out your door and get on with your day kinda news,

but for me......

HUGE! BIG!

(Think pretty woman in store berating sales clerks)

You see.....I am not an oatmeal eater, never have been, never planned on it....

you see the picture?  My childhood was scarred by lumpy, gumpy, sticky like glue filled with raisins oatmeal.  It was terrible. I mean horrendous!  To have the relation ship I have with raisins and then to add terrible goopy mush thrown at me at the same time...

Heaven help us all...cuz I had to sit there till I ate it...or school started...and a couple of times it was there for me at dinner.....

I didn't eat it then either....along with liver.....seriously....lumpy oatmeal is a crime!!!

Fast forward to today....

I liked it.....

I must be getting old, maturing in my ways, learning to try new things...just before I turn...um...aaccchhhmmm....40!

has the world stopped on its' axis?  It must have...

My mother would claim victory...but ummm......no.....she should nt have made lumpy not even the dog would eat it oatmeal.....

I would have tried it sooner and then my a few of my kiddos wouldn't be balking either.....and they wouldn't have to microblog or whatever they will call it in the future about their (me) mother scarring her for making her eat oatmeal...

she didn't....I relented and she ate rice krispies.....so much more nutritious and stickittotheribsness.

Would you deny this face???

Or this one?? I can't seem too....little punk

BUT, my oatmeal wasn't lumpy or mushy or sticky or made with powdered milk......it had cinnamon and blueberries in it....

It lowered my cholesterol....but now I have to go work on my blood pressure because it is now elevated since talking about my childhood....and throwittothepigs nasty oatmeal....

Don't even get me started about cream of wheat.....nightmares!!

But I must....I have to keep up with these two!!

Now if you will excuse me...I have to go continue being a grown up and mop my floor!

o, and if you are, always have been and never had a problem with hot oatmeal and/or raisins....God bless....

Love your ever livin oatmeal eatin guts!