WEEKLY BLURB: The Beginning of the year – a blank canvas – new choices – new paths –
new preparations – new decisions, but most of all NO FEAR (see previous post).
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THE GOOD: Snow on the needles, leaves, and the wires of the fence are stunning.
Snow can be fun, but in any case it’s cold outside
THE RANDOM: Some food tastes better with cold weather. A casserole my Dutch midwife friend made for me, and I got hooked.
Layer from bottom up in 9 x 11 inch baking dish (for 2 people as main dish) :
saute – 1/2 lb. hamburger meat with 1 big sliced onion
spread – sauerkraut (small can, drained) on meat
spread – pineapple chunks with 1/2 cup of pineapple juice over previous layers
On top – mashed (approx.3 big) potatoes
put little chunks of butter on top and sprinkle with crushed unsalted crackers, or Dutch crisp bakes (round biscuits) for a crunch. No Panko bread – need something crunchier. Bake at 350 degr. F for 30 min. and a light crust formed on top
A new thing for us (aka hubby) to tend to is a wood burning stove. For Warm Heart: It reminds me when my parents had a coal stove when I was a little girl, and around Christmas we roasted chestnuts in the ash tray below.
In those years, my brothers’ chore was keeping the coal box filled up. Also, this Thanksgiving day-good I remembered that the top of the stove gets so hot you can cook on it – which we did when we had a power outage.
For Tuesday Texture: all the transparent vapors going on here!
Am getting used to it now that as soon as we come in our neighborhood to see clouds and smell of the smoke of wood wafting through the air.
Even though the snow fell, we still had a sunset🙂
Tuesday Travel & Thurs. Door: (below) is in Old Town Sacramento
Zany Boo with his pup Brodie standing in the right place for my reflection in the kitchen window. They’re patiently waiting until his parents have loaded up the car to go to a place with even more snow!
THE FUN: Am enjoying this winter fun as long as I can, for not too long from now, the Camellia buds will appear (in Southern California they started blooming by our bedroom window at this time). They’re really round like this.
Remembering the wintery glow from Christmas
(Six Word Sat.)
Thanks to All the Hosts!
Blue Monday * Randomosity *
Our World * Nature Notes * Trees and Bushes * Tuesday Texture * Tuesday Travel *
ABC Wed. – Z * Outdoor Wed. *Water World (snow) * Wordless * Global Communal *
*Little Things * Good Fences * Warm Heart * Thurs. Door *
Sky Watch * Weekend Reflections * Fri Greens * Floral Fri Foto * Fri Photo Journal * Todays Flowers *
Maleviks Garden * Six Word Sat. * Sat. Critters * Pink Saturday *
I wrote my NN post, got up from the laptop to get more tissues and the cat jumped up on the warm laptop and deleted the post before I saved it….. I have to write it again. Your snow looks pretty. Boo is cute. We call Blake Boo… Hope all the confused nature will recover next spring… Michelle
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Sorry about the deletion, Michelle!Hope the rest of the week will go smoother:) How cute, Boo is not the real name of this grand, but I made up fake names for all my grands for their protection.
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Such an exciting time of year!
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Hello Elisabeth. Hope things are faring well with you? Went to your blog – did you stop blogging? Your photos of Prague I enjoyed immensely! Wishing you an awesome 2016!
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wonderful photo
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Oh, you have about as much snow as we have in Stockholm, Sweden. I love all your pictures. One of my camellias is already in full bloom. But I have it in my conservatory, outside it would not survive. But still, it is early. Normally the flowers appear close to Valentines Day.
Have a nice day and enjoy the snow!
/Anita
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Expected much more snow in Stockholm! The reason why I had snow because we are living at 3000 feet in California. Fifteen min. away (but lower altitude) no snow. Oh I love Camellias. Wishing you a wonderful 2016!
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Gorgeous photos and fun ones too! When I saw the plate of food I was going to ask for the recipe and then as a I scrolled u had it right there – and I am going to try it sometime – especially with the kraut! An herbalist friend insists kraut is an amazing thing to put in our GI because it Changes the flora powerfully – so thx for that
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You’re welcome Yvette. Haven’t seen many recipes with kraut. Because of the pineapple, even people who don’t like the forceful tartness of sauerkraut, like it. Have a great week!
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Well I actually would have to leave out the pineapple in that recipe right now because I am having very little sugar (sometimes none) while I continue to do a long term gut restoration and strict anti-fungal regime – yawn yawn yawn – but almost ending my second year and feels good in there – ha!
Anyhow – u are so right – not a lot of kraut recipes – and lately been reading
About other fermented foods we can benefit from too- here is a snippet from a book (GAPS diet)
someone recently suggested:
“The GAPS diet is sort of like the Paleo diet in that you eliminate all processed foods and gluten, but it takes it a step further to also remove other foods like oatmeal and quinoa until the stomach is able to handle them. It also has an emphasis on probiotic foods to populate the gut with healthy bacteria, so it calls for fermented foods with every meal. It also has an emphasis on homemade bone broths because the gelatin is excellent for the gut, and it calls for fish oil, cod liver oil and an omega 3-6 oil, as well as a therapeutic grade probiotic. “
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Oh wow, you’re really into this, but I can imagine if you have stomach problems before, that you research your options! Am one of the fortunate ones who can eat a lot of garbage (wink, wink).
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Yes – you are a fortunate one – and actually I could eat anything I wanted for decades –
Never had allergies and never gluten issues – but got bit by something on a trip to FL -but the truth is that without having many symptoms – I also had candidiasis – from dentists giving me antibiotics so much in 90s and from antibiotics at two years old – and then I ate almost fat free (duh) I changed that years ago but still took a while to really get good omega 3 in!
bottom line is that my flora was messed up and then I used to do herbal cleanses but did not know how to fortify (now I do with cal mag and amino acids and ENZYMES!)
I now believe that all health is determined by digestive health – and sadly people dismiss this and continue to treat only symptoms – and fail to remove pathogens and fail to rebuild – because we can also carry microbes and pathogens that are not necessarily getting broken down because stomach acid and food choices don’t do it! And not to make this too long, but when u mention immigrants and then even traveling – those things also add to the mix of stuff people collect in their gut – like say certain folks live in southern Mexico areas where there are certain parasites – well their food staples often include peppers and spices that kill such microbes and parasites – but this changes when people travel – work as a migrant – immigrate – and then because most people have imbalance gut flora it is no wonder so many are ill. And while prebiotics and probiotics are all the rage – enzymes and amino acids – and fermented foods like kraut – are key to a strong immune system!
Anyhow – sorry to ramble – but as
U can tell it is an area I am passionate about -lol – have a great week dear artist friend ❤️💛
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Lovely winter photos Jesh… oh and how wonderful to look forward to the buds at home too.
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Such pretty wintry scenes!! I agree, some foods are just meant for winter!
Happy new year and thanks for linking up!
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Love those snowy photos. Not sure we will see any this year.
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Hi Jesh,
I spotted the blue bow tie on he dog. Thanks for playing today.
Happy Blue Monday and a Happy New Year!
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We used to have a wood stove when I was growing up. Nothing keeps you warmer than a good fire. Cute boy and dog.
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Wow, snow and camellia buds. The weather has been crazy lately. Your grandson and dog are cute. We have a wood stove too, it gets nice and hot. Have a happy week!
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Lovely post!! The pictures are just amazing.. Just followed hope you check mine too. Muac ♥
https://awardrobeinprogress.wordpress.com/
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Must try that dish! We have never had measurable snow here in south Florida, but it sure looks pretty!
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Fabulous photos Jesh, all so lovely and I enjoyed the one of Boo with Brody. I am back from vacation and have enjoyed catching up. Thanks for linking again with Today’s Flowers and I would like to wish you and your Loved Ones A Very Happy New Year 🙂
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refreshing imagery
happy new year.
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it does not look like a frosty tree. It looks like a white tree 🙂 And Boo looks cold. 😦
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lovely couple for this weeks letter 😉
Have a nice abc-day / -week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ <abc-e-team)
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Snowy, beautiful winter images and memories! Love the icy pine needles!
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The zaniness is necessary for sanity.
ROG, ABCW
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Fun post Jesh — I’m glad you are enjoying Winter. Our home in Oregon (the one we sold after retirement) had celiling heat, the dumbest invention ever especially in rainy cold winter areas. Your feet under the table would turn to ice while your head was sort of warm. So as soon as we could we put in wood stoves and we loved having them. We even used to go out and cut our own wood. It was fun back then, but I’m glad I don’t have to do that now!!!
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You are such an excellent photographer. My two favorites are that first snowy scene and the shot of Boo & Brody. Thanks for your visit and Happy ABC Wednesday!
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Without our woodstove we couldn’t live in our float cabin in all seasons. Like yours, ours has a glass window. I love to watch the flames while I soak in the warmth on a cold night.
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Brrrrr! Looks lovely though…
Thanks for taking part in the Floral Friday Fotos meme. Look forward to seeing more of your photos in 2016!
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the snow is pretty! looks like you’re finding ways to keep warm.
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Stay warm.
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that first snowy image is pretty. The casserole sounds yummy.
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Lovely winter fence scene.
Interesting combo in that casserole
Cute kid & dog, they look so happy.
Sure no chance of buds blooming here any time soon.
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I love seeing the winter snow. I guess we always love what we don’t have! Enjoy that wood burning stove and the warm memories.
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Love the first and last shots best although all are good.
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I like the looks of that wood burning stove. Been awhile since I’ve enjoyed an authentic fire!
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Beautiful photos, all! The “hands” image is ‘I Will Not Fail Thee’ by Derek Hegsted, an LDS artist. As for the yellow flower drooping in the snow, I think it might be a snowdrop, too. When I looked it up, though, it seemed as if the leaves on snowdrops are rounder at the tips…but I couldn’t identify another flower that had similar leaves and hung down, so I am going with snowdrop. =)
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These photos do capture all the wonder of winter, an excellent time of year.
Amalia
xo
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Pineapple and sauerkraut, now that’s an interesting combination. I must try it. Your Tuesday sunset was very beautiful and magical. I can believe the fairies came out to dance. 🙂
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Pretty snowy photo scenes and a warm stove to keep you cozy. Happy New Year and enjoy a wonderful weekend.
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Hello, cute shot of your grandson and the dog. It is raining here today, no snow yet. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
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The tree covered in ice is stunning. Love the fire in the stove.
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