Dear Friends...

After you've done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. 
After five years, look at it with suspicion. 
And after ten years, throw it away and start all over. 
~Alfred Edward Perlman, New York Times, 3 July 1958

It has been years now since I started blogging and I think I've recently acquired writer's block. Not only am I finding it difficult to focus on keeping up my blog and coming up with new content, I have lost a bit of the enthusiasm I have always had for it. For that reason, I have decided to take a blogging hiatus. Hopefully it is temporary, but if not, please know that I have enjoyed all of my readers and those who have commented. Please feel free to sit awhile and enjoy the posts in my archives. There you will find helpful tips, wonderful recipes, and much more.

In Love And Light,

Oatcakes...

Oatcakes are to Scotland what a baguette is to the French. The flat cakes made mainly from oats have for centuries been considered the Scottish national bread. They are quick and easy to make and make a delicious snack or accompaniment to cheese or marmalade.

Irish oatcakes are unleavened cakes eaten with butter, cheese or honey. Irish oatcakes are one of the May Day recipes, prepared for Beltane, one of four Celtic Fire festivals.

Depending on the type of oats you are using, you will obtain different results and different flavors. There are many oatcake recipes but here are my favorites. Bake a batch to have with your favorite tea!

Scottish Oatcakes
Ingredients:
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sifted flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. quick rolled oats
1/2 c. softened butter(I use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" with good results)
1/2 c. milk

Sift flour, sugar and baking powder and salt together. Mix in rolled oats. Cut in butter thoroughly. Gradually add milk, stirring until dough is formed. Roll dough on highly floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut in squares or rounds. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until slightly browned. Serve warm with butter, jam or cold as a cookie.

Irish Oatcakes
Ingredients:
6 ounces oatmeal
2 ounces flour
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces warm water

In a bowl, mix flour, oatmeal and salt.
Add warm water slowly. Place the dough on a lightly floured board.
Roll and flatten to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into triangles.
Cook oatmeal triangles in a pan or griddle until both sides turn golden brown.
Serve buttered. Goes well with milk, wine and cheese or jams.

St. Brigid's Oatcakes (serves 4)
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked, old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups sifted bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil spray

A day ahead, combine the oats and buttermilk in a small bowl. Blend thoroughly, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the oat mixture from the refrigerator. Combine the bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon 20 to 30 times, or until you have a smooth dough. Grease a baking sheet with the oil spray. Turn the dough onto the baking sheet, and use your hands to form a round, cake-shaped loaf about 1-inch thick. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 4 quarters. Move the quarters apart slightly, but keep them in the original round shape. Bake until the cakes are light golden brown and firm to the touch, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack, and serve with butter and jam or preserves. Makes 1 round loaf (in quarters).

Rabbits In Your Garden?

Have you planted your garden and peeked out every morning to see if the little plants are reaching up from the ground? I know I do! If you've ever gone out to check your seedlings only to find a furry little rabbit nibbling on your tender sprouts, here is the way to stop it. Put cotton balls soaked in white distilled vinegar in a 35mm film container, empty aspirin bottles, or any small plastic container. Poke a hole in the tops and place in the garden. The rabbits are repulsed by the aroma and will leave your plants alone.

The Magic Of Honey

An essential natural cure all, packed full of medicinal and healing properties, honey is one of the purest and most natural forms of remedy, promoting general health and well being. The darker the honey the more minerals it contains. Keep enough honey on hand to enjoy both as food and a health aid.

Uses for honey: Burns
Honey applied over burns cools, removes pain and aids fast healing. A salve and antibiotic, bacteria cannot exist in honey.

Honey to help you sleep
A mug of hot milk with a dessert spoon of honey acts as a mild sedative (minerals, vitamins amino acids) aiding sleep.

Honey to clear nasal congestion
To clear nasal congestion, mix a dessert spoon or two of honey in basin of hot water. Bend over the basin, covering your head and the basin with a large towel and inhale the fumes.

Honey to heal wounds
Wounds such as cuts, grazes, scrapes, when covered with honey and bandage is an excellent healer.

Benefits of honey: Digestion
Mix honey and apple cider vinegar in equal proportion, dilute with water. This wonder drink aids digestion and eases joint inflammation.

Honey to cool your throat
Trickle a teaspoon of honey down the throat for inflamed raw tissues. You can also make a gargle when you combine 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 3 tablespoons of clover honey in a glass of warm water. Gargle as often as necessary. After using this remedy be sure to rinse your mouth with water to prevent the acid from eroding the enamel on your teeth.

Honey as a energy booster
A spoon of honey is an instant pick-me-up, giving you the much needed boost of energy. Alternatively 25% of honey with water is a good stabilizer to calm highs and raise lows.

Calcium utilization
A teaspoon of honey per day aids calcium utilization and helps prevent osteoporosis.

Good for your heart
Heart patients are advised to replace white sugar with honey that has natural fructose and glucose.

Honey for Longevity
Regular users of honey are the most long lived people. Beekeepers are known to suffer less from cancer and arthritis than any other working group worldwide.

Effective use of honey during migraine attacks
For people who have frequent migraine attacks, sip a dessert spoon of honey dissolved in half a glass of warm water at the start of the attack. Repeat after 20 minutes if needed.

Coughs:
Honey is miraculous when used in cough syrups. It soothes the throat, improves the taste of the syrup and helps prolong its shelf life. Combine 2 tablespoons of honey with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. If you prefer a flavored cough syrup (or if your kids do) you can add 1 teaspoon of frozen fruit concentrate to the mix. Makes a single dose.

Honey as a food preservative
Honey is a great food preservative. When baking cakes by replacing sugar with honey, they will stay fresher longer due to natural antibiotics as honey retains moisture.

Make Your Own Gourmet Mustard Mixes

Making your own gourmet mustards mixes can be fun and interesting!
The combinations are endless, delicious, aromatic and rewarding. These make great gifts for mustard lovers and are very inexpensive to make. Enjoy!



The basic recipe is:
3 ozs. of brown or yellow mustard seeds
1/4 c. of brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. black cracked pepper
1 tsp. of turmeric
7/8 cup of malt vinegar OR wine OR white vinegar

Put the mustard seeds, sugar, salt, pepper, and turmeric into a blender and whirl. Gradually add the liquid one tablespoon at a time.
You should have a coarse paste, let this stand or rest for 20 minutes.
Spoon into a clean jar, cap tightly and store in the refrigerator.

Yield: A little more than a cup
To make different gourmet mustards:
Clove Spice Mustard...add one teaspoon of cloves
Mustard Herbes De Provence...add two tablespoon of Herbs de Provence mixture
Hot Garlic Mustard...add 1 dried chili pepper and 1 clove of garlic
Horseradish Mustard...add 1/2-1 tablespoon of grated horseradish
Tarragon Mustard...add a pinch of cloves and 1 teaspoon of tarragon
Beer Mustard...use 1/2 cup of beer and 1/4 of malt vinegar instead of the 7/8 cup of malt vinegar, a pinch of ginger, cinnamon and caraway seeds
Honey Mustard...add 1/4 honey instead of brown sugar

Be Thankful...

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know everything,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.
-Author Unknown

What is a Mother?

A mother is someone to shelter and guide us,
To love us, whatever we do,
With a warm understanding and infinite patience.
And wonderful gentleness, too.
How often a mother means swift reassurance
In soothing our small, childish fears,
How tenderly mothers watch over their children
And treasure them all through the years!
The heart of a mother is full of forgiveness
For any mistake, big or small,
And generous always in helping her family,
Whose needs she has placed above all.
A mother can utter a word of compassion
And make all our cares fall away,
She can brighten a home with the sound of her laughter
And make life delightful and gay.
A mother possesses incredible wisdom
And wonderful insight and skill
In each human heart is that one special corner
Which only a mother can fill!
Katherine Nelson Davis

Happy Mother's Day to my mother and all of the mothers reading this today!

Scenting The Cottage Today...Banana Cake

I had a few over ripened bananas that I needed to use today so decided to try a new recipe. This cake is delicious and not to sweet, even though I put a powdered sugar glaze over the top. Don't fancy a large cake? Use this recipe to bake cupcakes / fairycakes! I believe it would freeze well also. Just wait to frost it until you are ready to eat. Enjoy!

Ingredients :

2 eggs well beaten
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (or buttermilk if you don't have yogurt)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup mashed bananas
1 1/2 cups sugar (white)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325F degrees, spray a loaf pan or bundt pan (I used a glass bundt pan) with non stick cooking spray, or line your muffin tray with papers.

Beat eggs, add the sugar and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Pour into prepared pan, bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester (toothpick etc) comes out clean.


Cool in pan for 15 minutes and remove. Cool completely before frosting or glazing.

Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk

Add vanilla to powdered sugar. Add milk a tablespoon at a time and stir until it is as thick or as thin as you like it. I like mine thick so put about 3 tablespoons of milk. Pour or spoon over the top of your cake.

Decorate with nuts if you wish.

Celtic Tree Astrology..Hawthorn - The Illusionist

Celtic tree astrology is based on the ancient idea that the time of our births is pivotal to the formation of our personality and behavior.

The spiritually savvy Celts, particularly the druids were expert observers. Over time, they recognized that a child born within a certain season would develop certain qualities.

May 13 – June 9
Happy Birthday to the Hawthorn sign! In Celtic tree astrology this sign is not at all what they appear to be. Outwardly, they appear to be a certain persona, while on the inside Hawthorn’s are quite different. They put the term “never judge a book by its cover” to the test. They live seemingly average lives while on the inside they carry fiery passions and inexhaustible creative flame. They are well adjusted and can adapt to most life situations well – making themselves content and comforting others at the same time. You are naturally curious, and have an interest in a broad range of topics. You are an excellent listener, and people seek you out as an outlet to release their burdens. You have a healthy sense of humor, and have a clear understanding of irony. You tend to see the big picture, and have amazing insight, although you typically won’t give yourself enough credit for your observations. Hawthorn signs match up nicely with the Ash and Rowan tree signs.

Is Your Personality Color Orange?

Did you know that the colors you love to wear speak of your personality? If you love wearing orange, you are action oriented and competent. Orange symbolizes practicality, independence, organization and creativity. You are self-motivated, active and competitive. You need to be careful not to try and dominate others. Orange is the color of youth, strength, fearlessness, curiosity and restlessness.