JALAPENO CHEDDAR CORNBREAD

My brother, Gary, and I ate a load of cornbread and beans as children. This was one of our Mother's favorite meals and she made it a lot. We didn't have much choice in the matter, so as my Mother would say, "if you are hungry, you will eat it"...so we did, mostly. My brother can barely even stand to speak of beans to this day, but cornbread, well, that is another story. This recipe post is for him. I figure he can make his own cornbread these days and make it spicy and cheesy just as he likes it best. I love you brother, ENJOY!


JALAPENO CHEDDAR CORNBREAD

COMBINE:
1 CUP FLOUR, (I use 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup wheat)
1 CUP YELLOW CORNMEAL
1 TABLESPOONFUL BAKING POWDER
1/2 TEASPOONFUL SEA SALT
1 1/2 - 2 TABLESPOONFUL SUGAR

IN A SEPARATE BOWL, BEAT TOGETHER:
2 EGGS
1 CUP MILK
3 TABLESPOONFULS OLIVE OIL

POUR INTO COMBINED DRY INGREDIENT MIXTURE. STIR UNTIL JUST MIXED. THIS MIXTURE SHOULD BE THE CONSISTENCY OF A THICK CAKE BATTER. ADD EXTRA MILK IF NEEDED, I DID! REMEMBER A DRY BATTER EQUALS A DRY CORNBREAD, BUT ACCOUNT FOR THE WATER IN YOUR FROZEN CORN.....

ADD IN, GENTLY MIX (TOO MUCH MIXING EQUALS TOUGH BREAD AND AIR POCKETS)
1 1/4 CUP SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
2-4 JALAPENOS, CHOPPED
1/2 UP TO 1 CUP CORN, STILL FROZEN OR CANNED OR FRESH, CUT FROM THE COB

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREES. NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE. YOU CAN POUR THIS MIXTURE INTO AN 8X8 PAN SPRAYED WITH NON-STICK SPRAY AND BAKE
       OR
AND THIS IS YOUR BEST CHOICE!
PLACE AN IRON SKILLET, SPRAYED WITH NON-STICK SPRAY AND WITH A FEW TABLESPOONFULS OF OLIVE OIL POURED INTO IT, INTO THE OVEN TO HEAT, ONCE HOT POUR THE OIL INTO YOUR BATTER, STILL GENTLY AND THEN POUR YOUR BATTER INTO YOUR SKILLET AND PLACE IN THE OVEN TO BAKE 25-35 MINUTES, CRISPY ON TOP AND COOKED THROUGH THE CENTER- CHECK WITH EITHER A KNIFE OR TOOTHPICK.
LOVE IT!

WATERMELON SALAD WITH MINT

This is a great option for watermelon in the summer, when there is so much delicious watermelon around. I recently took this to a gathering of my artists friends and everyone said they expected it to be tomatoes! Yes, you could make this with tomatoes and basil, instead of mint and watermelon, if you do change out the feta for mozzarella and celebrate Caprese style! Hope you enjoy this, it is easy and so very refreshing.

• WATERMELON SALAD WITH MINT
  
  
  • 1 (5-pound) watermelon
  • 1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, sliced thinly
  • 1/4 cup Balsalmic vinegar
  • pepper
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • Chopped fresh mint leaves (I use an entire pack from the
  produce dept!)
  • 8 ounces feta cheese, cubed or crumbled (Goat cheese feta is the best)
  • 6 whole mint sprigs for top of salad-presentation
  
  
  Cut the flesh from the melon and cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding the seeds, (buy a seedless, organic one!), and set aside. Peel and slice the onion into rings. Add the onion, mint, and the feta to the watermelon. Don't stir yet.
  In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, and pepper, and whisk. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, until blended well. 
  Pour the dressing over the melon mixture and toss gently until everything is coated and evenly mixed. Garnish with mint sprigs. 
  

  

  
  If you want to add salt to this, do it on the individual servings, as the salt will pull the water from the melon and make your dish soggy and sloppy.
  
  

Love and Peace of Mind--MY SAVIORS

...."Love and Peace of Mind do protect us, they allow us to overcome the problems that life hands us.

they teach us to survive...to live now...to have the courage to confront each day and utilize our pain and

 suffering as motivators and redirectors.

..."Illness and death are not signs of failure; what is a failure, is not living."



----Bernie Siegel

I spent many a day in the years of my twenties reading Bernie Siegel's books. Looking back, I can see I was preparing myself for struggles I had no way of foreseeing. Life is funny that way. I struggle in this hour from the errands of the day, physically and emotionally. My nervous system has been firing full fuel since a mishap at the dental office several weeks ago. A simple error sent the PTSD into complete, "show-up and be noticed" character. Rage is nearby ready to bite your head off at the slightest annoyance. Running errands, as I did today, standing in lines full with sound and people, bright florescent lights, ..you know what I mean, makes my life at times simply unbearable. More unbearable I should say. Staying home hidden away from it all is not a remedy. The PTSD alone makes life so miserable for me when it is fully awaken that I cry and rage over absolutely nothing in particular or normal. I feel pretty desperate for relief and my heart has fallen, losing it's focus on hope and a better day. I am not living. I wish I could tell you tonight that I know tomorrow will be better, but, honestly, I don't know that as a truth I can hold. Saying that to you all brings tears to my eyes. I have never felt so much despair and loneliness as I do in these days. The utter fear of hurting myself or causing another pain is so terribly intense. I wish I could tell you that I fear losing my mind, but that is what an ignorant person would concern themselves with.  This is not madness as some might suppose, but the inability to live blissfully after witnessing madness. Madness.
Where is the Love to save me and give me Peace of Mind when the rage wants to the only one present?
How can I believe in anything when, after so many months of joy and freedom, the rage visits me again?
Bernie, maybe I'll get one of your wonder books out tonight and search for a magical meaning to quench the thirsty rage, to calm the beast, so to speak.

I am Love.
I seek Peace.
I need Peace of Mind.
I am Love.

I HAVE HOPE FOR THE HUMAN RACE

It has been a tragic summer in Colorado. We have had several wild fires due to the drought and severely high temperatures for the state. Worse still, last week, we as a state, were once again victims of a mass shooting. This is the 3rd tragedy of this kind since I moved here in 1993...the Chucky Cheese shooting, Columbine, and this week's, Aurora shooting.
I hesitate to blog about it, as I have been guarded about what news I take in or allow myself to hear or read, for fear the violence will inhabit my body as I know so well that it has the potential take me down. I know what life is like for that of the victim's loved ones. If you have read any of my blog, you know about me, that my sister was murdered by the hands of her angry boyfriend, you know my story. If you know me, you know I suffer from this violence on a daily basis. Without boundaries, I have the ability to empathize til I'm physically unable to move. I kid you not. I know that as the days go by, other events in Colorado will take over and folks will speak less and less about the Aurora shooting; I know life goes on. I know folks say things to the survivor victims and the family victims as if one could grieve enough, or cry enough, or fear enough, and so "now, get over it." It doesn't work that way. We are love beings and when our world clashes with hate, we do not, as much as we think, adapt. We watch violent entertainment like children with candy. I can tell you, violence is not entertainment. These survivors know this now as I do. I am not amused with killings on the screen. I know what murder is. It's not entertaining. It's not humorous.

 I know that life changes in the most unimaginable ways following murderous violence for the survivors, ways that you cannot understand unless you've been initiated into this unpopular club. I can tell you that you do not know what violence is really like, what evil looks like, until you've seen it from this vantage point. A curtain has been drawn for us and child-like innocence and fearlessness is no more. Humans don't adjust to exposure to violence, we hold it trapped in our bodies until something happens to awaken it and then, off we go again into a state re-experiencing the event: fear, pain, loss, anxiety, increased boundaries, fear of crowds, sleeplessness, loud noises, fear of others, fear... Open your heart to us, be patient, give support, offer whatever you can to ease us through the difficult days.

The only bit of film I've watched at any length about the Aurora shootings, was the tiny bit captured of actor, Christian Bale's visit. I still can't release the burden that appeared on his face when he was at the memorial. I can't understand why folks expected him to come. I struggle with understanding too much and I ask myself, "how is this relevant to me and my experience."  I know how the victim's families feel, but what I can't empathize with and I struggle to feel is Christian's position. How awful it would be to be brought into a crime by the perpetrator as if you were somehow pushing his buttons, you too are responsible; responsible for someone's misinterpretation of your art and people died. My heart goes out to him, what a burden, what a shame.

Please don't allow jokes to arise about this crime, it only minimizes the tragedy and the loss and the pain of those who survive. It's a little too inhumane...find another way to cope if you feel uncomfortable. Put arms around someone and give and get a hug. Let's push love out and around us and cushion the world with it.  Give love as much as possible wherever you are and never, never de-humanize yourself in any situation, whether it be on the phone with a bill collector or behind the wheel of a car or waiting in a line too long. Give love, fight back with love. I HAVE HOPE FOR THE HUMAN RACE.

G'S BALLS

My husband recently started making these protein balls; he's begun an even advanced version of a healthy lifestyle lately. Everyone loves these. The ingredients are easily interchangeable, so you can add and subtract to your liking and create your own balls! We have made 3 different versions so far and, still, YUM!
You can easily pat these into a cake pan and make bars instead of rolling into individual BALLS.
I hope you love them!

2 cups of nuts of your choice: sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans almonds, cashews, pistachios, sesame  
   seeds, chia seeds. We mix various nuts to total the quantity.

1 1/2 cup carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoonful cinnamon

1/2 teaspoonful sea salt

1/2 cup raisins or dried cheeries

1/2 cup dates, soak them if they are dry and hard--pit them

1/2 cup almond butter or tahini (we like almond butter, preferably raw and organic). You could probably choose sunflower seed butter as well.

2 Tablespoonfuls honey or agave nectar

1 teaspoonful vanilla extract

Put nuts, seeds, carob or cocoa, cinnamon, salt, raisons or cheeries, and dates in a food processor and pulse until blended. Add almond butter or tahini, honey or agave, and vanilla then blend until you get a sticky consistency. Shape the mixture into bite sized ball or press into a cake pan for bars-slice once chilled.. Store in fridge or freezer. YUUUUMMM! These make such a great snack or pick-me-up!

Me and My ART

Art is a relatively new world for me, following a head injury, I found I was only able to fully function when I was creating something. The world of art was a gift from a tragedy. Clay was introduced to me as a potential healing medium and healing it was.

Nearly 2 years ago, I began studying ceramic sculpture. Always true to my nature to find ways to express myself as a witness to my life experiences, ceramic sculpture was a soulful match for me. Meditating my emotions and experiences through expression in sculpture, breathing my life into the clay, has allowed me to fully understand and grow beyond the experiences and has provided me with a means of controlling the outcome. During this process, I was able to choose the resulting product. In this manner, I have integrated these experiences, making them a part of me, the sculpture being birthed in the process, there in lies the healing. Seeing myself clear and whole in my creations and sharing them with others, I hope to stimulate conversations among the observers about their own experiences. 

Incidentally, the nude female forms I create represent the vulnerability of the human form, and the breasts represent universal, enduring life. The brain injury and trauma I’ve experienced made me retreat from the world in search of safety and left me feeling very vulnerable. Life is so very precious to me now. I feel compelled to create human forms that represent these vulnerabilities and the sensitive nature common in all living beings. 

Here are a few of the ceramic sculpture pieces I have exhibited in my first gallery show at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO. The exhibit is open to the public until July 27, 2012 and these most of these pieces are available for purchase. You may also contact me with interest by commenting below. I hope you enjoy.

Viktor Frankl: My Search For Meaning

Viktor Frankl's book, "Search For Meaning,"  was the first book I picked up following the murder of my sister. When you are struggling to understand a moment in your life, a loss of any kind, I would recommend reading this book. Stand still and reflect on what really matters in your life, in this moment, without looking back or forward, without judgment, stand still and breath in and out; you are here for a reason, you have a purpose, you are worthy. Start with the "Spark" that you are and move forward toward the best person you can be, reach outside of yourself, share your experience with others, and most importantly: Embrace love and life.