Lesson 4 - Just Keep Smiling

Sometimes you have to roll with the punches and just keep smiling - even in difficult circumstances.

Reeling from a particularly difficult food reaction I didn't feel much like smiling when I awoke this morning. Then a memory came to me and I just couldn't help myself.

Here's what made me smile.

Last December, while on a mid-week get-away with friends, a new character was introduced into my life. With our husbands reclining by the fire sipping wine my friend and I penned a story born out of the preponderance of spectacular poinsettias surrounding the towering Christmas tree in the great hall of the hotel where we were staying.

I don't know why I didn't think to share those collaborative results at that time. Better late than never, as the saying goes. Introducing Penelope...

I hope this makes you smile.

The Potted Poinsettia Preturberance

Penelope pondered the poinsettia predicament with a predictable pout. A purported perfectionist she was perturbed by the preponderance of poinsettias less one.

Perusing the room, she pondered the possibility of the purloined poinsettia.

Where might it be?

Perhaps the pursuit of prudence presents the best possibility of piecing the puzzle promptly, preventing Penelope from predetermining a point, setting the stage for presumptions.

Perpending a possible progression, Penelope proceeded to project a persona of patience, whilst preventing a perfectly public prostration.

Presently a person of plant proficiency produced said poinsettia, placing it purposefully in position, placating Penelope's pensive predilection.

Penelope's predicament palliated!

Pleased, Penelope peacefully departed.

Penned by Partners in Prose

So you see Penelope, though prone to pout over perfectly puny problems, persists in her pursuit of possible pleasures to precipitate positive product.

How could I not smile at the thought of Penelope! :o)

Lesson 3 - The 5 Minute Choco-like Mug Cake

Lesson 3, for me, means learning to be flexible in life.

Rigidity will break us every time. EVERY time.

In the process of learning to be flexible, I've discovered some things are easier to live without than chocolate. Kale, for example. When I discovered I had more than a mild intolerance to this healthy food, kale was easy to forget about....and organ meats....I'm sure there are many out there who agree with me. Liver - NOT a fan! I'm not intolerant, I just don't like it! OK, just "intolerant" by alternate definition.

You know the old adage:  When life throws you lemons - make lemonade! Well, I've learned, when life takes away chocolate, make something with carob taste delicious! Impossible, you say? Keep reading and be prepared for a surprise.

When cooking meats and veggies, there are myriad substitutions, but chocolate, that's another story. NOTHING taste exactly like chocolate, or even makes a reasonable substitute. There is, of course, carob. Ah! whether carob could ever be a substitution for chocolate is a whole other topic for discussion. My quest has been to elevate carob to a level equal to chocolate. Maybe not as a substitute, but to an epicureal (OK, so I made up a word, but it suits my endeavor) class of its own - all from my own kitchen. Because, let's face it, I'm cheap! I know there are wonderfully scrumptious carob treats and desserts out there but I just don't want to pay the price. And they almost always use whey/dairy, also a food "no-no" for me.

I happened upon an interesting discovery while playing with an existing recipe called The 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake (a previous staple in my spur-of-the-moment recipe box).

But first, join me in a brief caveat here. I am not a chef, don't pretend to be one, nor do I strive to be one. I'm just a homemaker who, after being diagnosed with numerous food allergies/intolerances, needed to discover alternative ways of cooking to remain healthy...and still enjoy eating while maintaining the balance between eating to live and living to eat. We all look forward to delicious treats now and then.

Now, back to my interesting discovery.....Carob, in the right proportion with vanilla and almond extracts, can rival the flavor profile of chocolate. AMAZING! I think I've substantially proven this to be true when, after serving this new creation to my husband (a critic with no opinion filter), actually said he likes it. AND, did not realize it wasn't chocolate until I told him! Oh, and I forgot to mention, it's also gluten-free AND dairy-free - a threefer! Apologies to all the egg-freers out there, my recipe is still not egg-free but if, and when, my daughter perfects that recipe (she's an egg-freer) I will certainly share.

So pleased am I with the result of my experiments I'm now willing to share it with others who may need to remain gluten-free, dairy-free and chocolate-free.

The 5 Minute Choco-like Mug Cake

makes 1 large serving - if you want to be decadent, or 2 small if you are waist watching

4 Tbsp. gluten-free flour (not a fan of bean flours, mine does not contain soy, garbanzo, etc.)

2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar (use a generous 1/2)

1 1/2 Tbsp. carob powder

1/4 tsp. Guar gum

1 egg

3 Tbsp. rice milk, plain

3 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I use the real stuff)

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix all ingredients together, beating well. If you would like to stay true to the "Mug Cake" concept, spray a mug with cooking spray and pour the batter into the mug. If you are going for 2 small servings, I use 2 custard cups, sprayed, and divide the batter in two. Microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. I'd start with 2 minutes the first time. My new generation microwave bakes 2 custard cup portions in 2 minutes. Over microwaved stuff isn't at all fun. It turns out tough and rubbery.

Voila! Dessert! You only need to let it cool for a nano-second (OK, maybe slightly longer).

This recipe truly satisfies my chocolate craving. Enjoy!

PS

Stay tuned. The next step is to transform this recipe into brownies. Logic says it would only take a little math to expand a "mug cake" into a plate of brownies, but with gluten-free baking you never know.

Lesson 2 - How to Fold Fitted Sheets

Fitted Sheets 101 - Lesson from a drunken Auntie

As I stood folding sheets fresh from the laundry for a friend I was reminded of my most valuable life lesson...

My dear mother had a heart of gold and when I was a teenager she heard, via the family grapevine, that her Auntie Mable needed temporary housing so she invited her to come live with us. What the family grapevine had failed to include was that Auntie Mable had a drinking problem. The temporary housing arrangement was made even more temporary when mother came home from work one day only to find our Auntie drunk as a skunk and apologizing profusely for having "cracked" the bottle of vodka she had found in the cupboard.

However, while with us, I learned a most valuable lesson from sober Auntie Mable. I remember her telling me, she had been previously employed as a housekeeper and learned a method of folding fitted sheets that was fool-proof. She passed that method on to me and I have been forever grateful. Other than teaching me never to "crack" a bottle and get caught, showing me how to fold fitted sheets successfully has been nearly the best thing I've ever learned.

You see, I am not exactly OCD but I do like things neat and orderly. Had I not learned from Auntie Mable how to fold fitted sheets I'm sure it could have been the bane of my existence. I gain an odd sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when opening the linen closet and finding the sheets all neatly stacked.

But it goes much farther than just seeing neat stacks of sheets in the closet. I've come to realize there's a greater life lesson to be learned. Sometimes dealing with things in life can be a little like trying to fold a fitted sheet without the secret "method". We can fight and wrestle with it and it still only turns out a wrinkled mess - an eyesore hidden away in some closet that mocks our ineptitude every time we open the door.

Through the lesson of how to fold a fitted sheet I've come to realize every problem has a solution. The answer may not come in the time frame we may desire but the answer will come if we are patient. It took me any number of tries to learn the "method" of folding fitted sheets. Now it's second nature. I don't even think about what I'm doing when I fold a fitted sheet AND I can accomplish it in mere seconds. I am much more patient in waiting for the solution to a problem knowing I will learn from it and move on gaining knowledge that will eventually be needed for the future. Because I've also found problems tend to revisit us - just as there will always be more laundry to be done.

Lesson 1 - Suffering the Conquences

Applying life lessons from a chocolate allergy.

After discovering an allergy to chocolate (among other foods) one year ago I've learned some interesting life lessons. As stated in my blog title:

Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should

Interestingly enough I've discovered this applies to ALL things in life. Starting with chocolate - just because I can eat it doesn't mean I should. If I choose to eat chocolate I will suffer the consequences. Consequences, I've found, I would rather avoid. PAIN is a good deterrent!

You see, I'm a learn-by-experience type of person - something I've many times wished I could change. Why can't I just take the information and learn to live with it? Well, with chocolate I did actually, for about 8 months and then I fell off the chocolate-wagon and forayed into enemy territory on a brief binge. I think, in reality, it was a test driven by my not-so-subconscious to see if the whole chocolate allergy was indeed a true malady. OH YES IT IS! My body soon screamed.

OK, so now chocolate has been elevated to a whole other level: neurotoxin!

That puts it in a completely new perspective - much easier to avoid. In fact I'm no longer remotely tempted. I was even tested last night when presented with the opportunity to try a luscious and decadent Godiva chocolate brownie. Other than and unrestrained Oooo....!! escaping from my lips, I had absolutely NO inclinations to taste even a single crumb. Again I say, PAIN is a good deterrent! I had no desire to suffer the consequences. I had learned my lesson the hard way.

Just because I can eat chocolate doesn't mean I should. And thus the lessons begin...