"Age, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty!"

I turn 40 this year. I'm anticipating it as a death and re-birth, which causes me to look at the metaphyiscal meaning of some of the strangest things. Take this video for example. This lady is more than twice my age! I have another 47 years to get this good at salsa dancing! I will, however, skip the sexy strip down to spaghetti straps! Enjoy!

"Like New Grass in the Spring."

For Christmas, I gave David a new bedspread. (I know that's as bad as Homer Simpson giving Marge a bowling ball with his name on it, but it was Christmas time when I found it, what could I do?) Here's a picture (minus the groovy, hyper-coordinated room). You wouldn't believe all the conversation that a new bedspread will generate in a house full of girls. "Mom, I LOVE your new bedspread!" (No pretense whatsoever that this is David's bedspread.) "It's so silky. Let's go swimming on the bedspread." "Is this a bedspread or a comforter?" I just wanted to share my personal favorite; Marguerite said it: "Your bedspread is like new grass in the spring. Sigh." Where did this girl come from? In the last few weeks, I've also heard her say (after reading the new Fancy Nancy book): "I'm the only fancy one in my family." And: "If there's no air in outer space, what do we breathe?" And tonight, I heard: "Can Superman breathe in outer space?" I just wanted to document that.

Postum, Anyone?

Just in case you were wondering how to make Postum from the grain . . . here's a recipe. Thanks a lot, Kraft, for discontinuing it a few years ago. I need it tonight for Lizzy's mother-daughter book club. "Ostumo," in Gail Carson Levine's book Fairest, is described as being a warm drink made from grain and molasses; it shows up all over the book. Smart girl, I am, praising Postum to the skies, telling Lizzy it will be the PERFECT drink to serve to her friends . . . it goes with the book perfectly. . . THEN finding out it can only be bought for $85 a jar on ebay. The recipe below is for the dried grain mixture: once it's made, you have to steep it and run it through a coffee filter--no such thing as homemade INSTANT postum. If you're curious, stop by for a cup. I keep thinking of Grandma Shill--it's made my house smell like hers--that's the fun part. I combined 2 recipes and made it like this: 3 c. wheat germ 1 c. corn meal 2 c. cracked or ground wheat (cream of wheat) 1 c. molasses Mix in your hands until the molasses is evenly distributed; looks and feels like damp saw dust. Spread thin on cookie sheets Bake 300, stirring every 20 min for 5 hours. (Wish me luck on that part.) I'm actually baking 275 with convection, hoping the convection will speed it up. Woah, that was too hot for convection. I turned it down to 250, but it definitely sped it up. It's already dried out. The pans in my regular oven are way behind. ENJOY! Here are the original recipes: http://ouc1.com/another-homemade-postum-recipe/ http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1630,149185-250198,00.html