Better than You Found It (It’s a Great Big World, But a Small World, After All)

"It's cold, cold, cold! And we'll soon be old. Alas and alack, it's a great big world!" -- "It's a Great Big World" from The Harvey Girls "It's a small world after all . . .It's a small world after all!" --Walt Disney's It's a Small World attraction, World's Fair 1964, relocated to Disney World …

Ades and Ale to Aid Upset Tummies, Part 2: Dr. Rosi’s Miracle Punch Recipe (Sometimes Known as Witch’s Brew)

Note: This does not constitute medical advice. It's mother advice. Consult with your own doctor as needed. I served switchel exclusively for upset tummies until I learned of a trick from a family practitioner that  worked so well, I converted. A family doctor we used to know is the source of a recipe we have …

Ades and Ale to Aid Upset Tummies, Part 1: Switchel Recipe

My mother, The Nurse, always gave us ginger ale when we were sick, one sip every 15 minutes if tolerated.  It never felt like enough as a child, but, as usual,  my mother was right.  As an adult, I gave ginger ale  to my family when they were sick -- the only time I would …

Unexpected Gifts

When I was in high school, I had a phenomenal Bible teacher named Ray Vander Laan. Mr. Vander Laan exemplifies to me the ancient proverb, "Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men" (NASB, Proverbs 22:29). When I was a teenager, not …

Gluten Free Cranberry-Orange-Almond Coffee Cake

My friend Julie Goldberg gave me a coffee cake recipe from the King Arthur Flour website at Thanksgiving. It looked amazing, but needed some tweaking to make it work for my family. I made a Gluten Free version of it and it WAS amazing. So much so, I decided to make it again with my …

Gluten-Free Bread

I was just reading some posts on a website called Earthclinic where participants were asking about using a gluten free diet, how to find gluten free bread, and which breads are safe.   These are important questions. I began writing a long reply on their website and then decided to post it here for blog readers …

Lemons and Lemonade

We've been having  beautiful Indian Summer weather this week. My schedule has been full, so I've been working to finish things up and get outside to work in the garden. Last night I went to the home of a long term acquaintance, the Book Lady. We've known each other for 20 years, and share mutual …

Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Little Boys

My dear friend, Julie, has a lovely blog. In her recent post, You Can Spread it With a Paper Knife, Julie once again expresses the heart of so many of us as we strive to feed our children and families and souls real food, real life, and real love. Julie's post deals with our need …

Words We Spell Differently and the Most Powerful Word of All

“Set a guard over my mouth, O L-RD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:13 Words are life-giving and life-destroying. Sticks and stones break bones and names can hurt or heal.  As a young woman, one of my favorite movies was Brigadoon with Gene Kelley and Cyd Cherisse. In one scene, when …

Sweet Potato “Cream” Soup (Raw)

I'm very new to the whole raw food thing, and have been dipping my toes into it ever so slowly. But this week I visited with CatLady, the woman who introduced me to the raw food idea, and she told me about a new soup she likes. Yesterday I stopped by the health food store, …