Duh

After months of puzzling over my erratic stats. I had an epiphany (I love that word). My stats jump whenever I post comments to someone else's blog. The more comments I post the more hits I get.

I could probably figure out which blogs generate the most hits if I tried. I'm just not that interested, although Saints comments seem to be part of it.

I'm pretty sure I'm the last person on the Internet to figure this out.

They Say It's Her Birthday

Notable Birthdays November 29


Dagmar was born on November 29, 1921


Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832

Busby Berkeley was born on November 29, 1895

C.S. Lewis was born on November 29, 1898

Howie Mandel was born on November 29, 1955

It's Her Birthday Too, Yeah

A New Thanksgiving Tradition

I have been trying to eliminate the unhealthy parts of traditional dishes from the Thanksgiving menu. One of my targets was the ubiquitous canned cranberry sauces, either chunky or regular. I like the taste and cranberries themselves are healthy, but the canned stuff has way too much sugar added.

I've tried several things but never been entirely successful. This year I was. I made a no sugar added cranberry gelatin mold and it was a hit, even with my non-health conscious relatives.

Your Mominem's Satsuma/Cranberry Mold

• One bag of fresh cranberries
• One cup of Splenda
• One package of Knox gelatin
• Three Louisiana Satsumas
• One quarter cup of chopped walnuts

1. Peal the Satsumas, separate the sections and clean. Set the cleaned sections aside.
   
2. Heat cranberries in four cups of water until boiling.
3. While the cranberries heat, blend the powdered gelatin into one cup of cold water in large mixing bowl.
4. As soon as the cranberries come to a boil blend the mixture into the mixing bowl with the gelatin mixture.
5. Mix the cranberries gelatin and Splenda gently until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
6. Cool the mixing bowl in a larger bowl or kitchen sink filled with cold water.
7. When the mixture reaches approximately room temperature gently fold in Satsuma sections and walnuts.
8. Transfer to molds if desired and refrigerate until hardened (at least 3 hours).
9. To serve, release gelatin by placing the mold in hot water.
   

If anyone tries it please let me know how you like it.

Life, Remeberance and Katrina

Last week my Aunt died after a long illness. She was my mother's sister and a wonderful woman. When I was a child all of my mother's family lived in the same town and we saw each other frequently. I grew up seeing my cousins almost weekly.

Over the years the family dispersed to different parts of the country, so I haven't seen her much in the last several years. I last saw her at a family reunion in South Carolina which was disrupted by Hurricane Ivan so many people couldn't make it.

I consider myself lucky, both my of parents are still living and in relatively good health. That is a blessing.

At times like this we always reflect on life and this time is no different. I remember things.

One thing I remembered is something my parents did when my father retired. They sold their big two story house near Houston and bought a new smaller one story house in a small East Texas town away from the coast. I never have understood how they came to pick the town they picked.

The strategy was sound. They used the equity in their old house to entirely pay for a smaller new house better suited to their needs as they would grow older. They also eliminated a mortgage payment, freeing up a significant part of their retirement income. As Betsy survivors (they lost almost all of their furniture) they wanted to be safe from hurricanes, so they moved away from the coast. Not quite far enough it turns out, Rita left them without power for a week and a tree fall on their house.

It occurs to me that many people in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast will now never be able to do what my parents did. They have lost the equity they had built up over many years and are now saddled with substantial new debt, in the form of low interest SBA Disaster Loans. I don't see how people of ordinary means can overcome that.

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving
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