Happy Birthday, Babies!

The babies are growing up!

Sierra Anne-Marie is 7 now (as of April 18th). She is a funny, plucky kid, who enjoys the California sunshine, Hello Kitty, Disney Princesses, her pets, her parents, and is extremely whip-smart. She is also very gorgeous, and I don't say that just because people say we look alike (Especially when we pout, was occasionally added.) I am glad to finally know of her and welcome her to our family, along with her mother Renee, and her brother and sisters.

Happy Birthday, Sierra!

Lorelei at 3 mos old, September 2006, puckering up for Mama.

Lorelei's first smile

Little Miss Lorelei Sarah, my precious, who has fought and fought and fought, and through it all, remains a very strong and feisty girl, and of course, absolutely gorgeous. She likes yellow, kitties, Dora, school, coloring, reading, and birds. She has made me cry, laugh, and wonder at the strength of one teeny little person. From a 4lb 7oz girl the size of a Cornish game hen, to the feisty five-year old she is now. She is 5 on May 16th.

Happy Birthday, to My Sweet Little Lori-Pie

One of our very first meetings


And of course, a special little guy named Connor Matthew, who is 7 on May 27th.
Connor has fought, against illnesses and food allergies, and against prejudice. And he remains funny, smart, and marvelous, of course, it runs in our crazy, crazy family! And congratulations, my funny smart nephew, for making the merit roll at your new school! Yay! 

Connor Matthew, goofing around with his puppy, Oscar.

I didn't mean to teach him that habit. Oops!

Connor Matthew & Aunt Beth

The Week As One of One Hundred Thirty-Three

The availability of experts on the gluten free diet is scary, almost as scary as those who lie about it or actively discriminate. (There's even a facebook page, We Love Gluten- with tagline "And hate anyone who can't have it". )Which has since been removed. Hmmm...

Even the gluten-free nutrition experts can be full of horseshit. My sister & I seperately dealt with such nonsense. One proclaimed sugar to act as a drug. Not so much! And praised quinoa to be an end all be all. But what of potato, tapioca, rice, almond, guava, fava bean, and more. Look, I love quinoa. Good cereal. But fuck if I'm living on cereal!

Sugar, by the way, is not a drug as it does not stimulate the "addiction center" of the brain. True! This expert was placing it in the same damn category as nicotine, caffeine and crack! I am saddened and insulted.

I was cheered when Bob's Red Mill, who works hard for the GF community, responded honestly and took buckwheat flour (usually, buckwheat is considered "GF Safe") because it did not always test gluten-free out of the GF product line. They may not be a  totally gluten-free company, but they are rigorous.
So, I guess, it's win-some-lose-some.

As for the NC baker who lied to customers - re-packaging normal bread as Gluten-free, to the government, and what not, he is guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
A group, 1 In 133 (One out of "every" one-hundred and 33 Americans has celiac or other gluten intolerance) is pushing to make the packaging of gluten free items safer, with mandatory labeling, which is not required at this time.

Batyushka

Dad & I, (funky hat courtesy of Grandpa) on my first Christmas.

Dear Gentle Giant,
It's come around again... the anniversary of the day your strong, gentle spirit left this world. In 16 years, there have been many, changes.  I'm 28 now, Batyushka. I've had a child of my own...your grand daughter, Lorelei Sarah. Eyes of brilliant blue, a lot of beauty, inside and out, and a strong, spunky spirit to match. She has survived much. We never did know the word "Quit", did we?

You taught me to never ever believe the word "can't"--- "You can't do this, you're too sickly, or whatever"... I was taught, if not in those exact words, to say "Screw you! Yes, I can!" And I will live that, and teach that.

I still have that darned stuffed skunk you made me years ago... new stitching, new stuffing, and she has gone through a lot of wear and tear, but Flower is still with me, one of the tangible parts of you, that I still have. Numerous times, I had to leave her, or had the threat of disposal over my head... I still hold her dear :) 

here we are, almost 3 decades later :)


You taught me to love music, even when difficult to hear, to feel it. From Peter Paul & Mary... you taught me to love Puff, the Magic Dragon. Your Jackie Paper isn't giving up the simple things!This was my nighty- night. Good Morning, Starshine was how you greeted me, with the look that said I was beautiful, even appearing at the breakfast table to almost sleep in my cornflakes, my braids or ponytails askew, wearing old sweats or one of your shirts that due to your height and build, still hang almost to my knees, but hung to my ankles as a child.

Goodnight, Batyushka. Ya ochen tebya lubloo. 

Egg Cream Nostalgia

In 2001, I met a dear sweet girl, up in Cobleskill. She came from Brooklyn, and when we travelled back by train to meet her crazy, elderly Polish/Argentinean/Jewish parents, I was not only welcomed immediately, but... I was treated to an egg cream for the very first time. This was a marvelous treat, and is so not described by its name. I expected milky eggs in a cup, and then, I got this lovely chocolate soda. The ingredients are simple...and oddly, contains no egg. Anna: THANK YOU! :-)

An egg cream, as I had it, is made this way, and I hope to replicate it soon! (Although nothing beats Brooklyn for this. We have wings, you have egg creams.)

1/2 cup of whole milk
1 cup of just-opened bottled seltzer
2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup. New Yawkas insist on Fox's U-Bet syrup for this.

Preparation:  

Pour 1/2 inch of cold milk into a tall soda glass. Add seltzer or club soda to within 1 inch of the top of the glass; stir vigorously with a long spoon (this will cause it to become white and bubbly with a good head of foam).

Very gently pour 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup slowly down the inside of the glass; briskly stir with a long spoon only at the bottom of the glass where the chocolate sits. The resulting drink should have a dark brown bottom and a 1-inch high pure white foam top (if you mix it too much, the foam disappears).
I am nostalgic. And cannot believe it's been 10 years already since I first had this treat. 

The Happy Assassins

I am beginning to become a bit hot under the collar.
There seems to be an epidemic of Happy Assassins.
In late March, came one Mr. Damian Cardone. (Damian, who'd have thunk it?) who bragged, publicly about making people ill. Who claimed that gluten free was just a trend, only a rare few, when called on it, were even given credit for really needing the gluten free diet. His Facebook is in the ether, but screenshots remain. Like this one. I have a large copy I keep around. (It reads: "Gluten free is b******t." Celiac disease is where people are physically intolerant to gluten. Cardone goes on to say even when customers ask for gluten free products, "I serve 'em our pasta...with high gluten flour... chefs love to use people as experimental research." Then, in North Carolina, the owner of a bread company blithely lied to customers "Sure, completely safe- gluten free, clean site, honest". (Sir, no where in Southern Hospitality does it make it OK to get people ill.) As one unhappy consumer put it: "I ate a bagel and was on the bathroom floor all night." 2 weeks. 2 "chefs/bakers".  See Paul Seelig/ Great Specialty Bread Co. Sick people. And people who are sick in the goddamn head and should have known better. How is any celiac/ gluten/wheat/allergic/sensitive person to feel safe/ reassured? And will I get my appetite back? These questions may be answered on next weeks's episode of SOAP.

Paul Seelig: News Story:

Sorting Through Muck

I'll try to put this into perspective.
There is FAR, far more going on than I can handle. I'm having to just focus on me- I'm OK... I'm a feisty broad. But- there are a gazillion situations.
*Hitting the stage of grief where you don't necessarily think about them every day. I've quit dialing the first 6 numbers of Grandma's to ask her for coffee.
*My family is falling apart. And when fighting with eachother while the will probates, who is the one they go to?
*I felt shoved one night. I had tried to explain: "Give me time to myself. I need to focus. I need to recharge. I need to think." It had, at that point, nothing to do with you. I wanted to think, I need to protect myself.
It felt like, when I was started on with: "I've read all the psychology books and law books- you need help 'Friend to friend' -(Wink?) " and told me that what every lawyer, everyone I know has told me, was wrong- simply because I had said it, not Miss "I Am Always Right". Piling in every issue and attacking ME, personally? I do my damndest not to do that. You want to start a clinic for battered women? That's actually great. The Salvation Army does jack shit. Would I EVER put one down? Are you fucking kidding me? Way to make yourself look like an ass in public- instead of focusing on the issue try reminding me of my ex husband shouting "You're crazy! This is how a man makes sure a woman behaves!"-and justifying his abuse with "Oh, she's just crazy, so she gets shy sometimes, it's her psychosis". (When I was actually hiding--- physical wounds!) sure, bring it ALL rushing back- and the times I was told to "Get help" after I'd run. Hint: Do not, when someone is healing, rip off the goddamn scab.
*I know that I accidentally missed some calls. This is not unusual. Next time, alone or not, I am answering it with "I'm getting laid right now, can I call you back?" *CLICK*
If I ask "Am I only your friend if I agree with you" and you ask me to hear reason, then you gave me a fine answer, indeed.
*My alarm bells are ringing loudly, and I may well be able to be referred to as Chicken Little. This is stress. Stick by, I am not generally a lunatic.
*Of course, talking is hard--- I'm not sure what to say, and well, I gotta sort. I also need a vacation. And a massage. (Happy Ending, too? <----I kid)

Home Made Play-Doh

The colorful childhood modelling substance, originally created by a pre-school teacher using a putty wall-paper cleaner, is a marvelous toy.
How many toddlers try a few putty-y and icky bites? Show of hands? I did. The things you learn as someone with Celiac Disease--Play-Doh contains gluten. (It's in a lot of things, kind of scary, really!)

Plus, making your own, and dying it whichever color you like is a lot more fun. So, pull out the ingredients, grab the bowls, and let's make a mess!

Non-Edible:
(I'll probably be doing this, the peanut butter one is fun, and I have 7 pounds of the crap to use up! But alas, a lot of peanut allergies.)
• 2 Tbsp cream of tartar
• ½ cup salt
• 1 to 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1 cup water
• food coloring
Mix flour, cream of tartar, and salt in a pan. Mix desired coloring with water, add with oil to dry mixture. Cook over medium heat until thick. Mix in coloring later if preferred.
Kool-Aid and Crystal Lite iced tea also make awesome dyes.


For those who can have peanut butter, an edible Play-Doh. Who doesn't like to play with their food? I used to bury small plastic Army men in my mashed potatoes. I was a weird kid. Anyway...

Peanut Butter Play-Do With Milk (Edible)
 1 jar (18 oz. ) peanut butter
• 6 tsp honey
2/3-1 cup of flour (thanks for the correction!)
• non-fat dry milk or milk plus flour to make desired consistency
Mix all together. Can decorate with raisins,chocolate chips, coconut, etc.

Peanut Butter Play-Doh minus milk (Edible)
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp honey
• ½ cup flour
Mix all together.


ENJOY! :)