Friday, February 02, 2007

LILY'S DUCK

It's no fun being sick. Admittedly, yesterday I was at least in the land of the vertical. Wednesday passed in a fog – I don't rightly know how I made it through the day. By evening my dearest sent me off to bed. Miles likes me sick. I don't mean he likes me to BE sick, but he could have been born to nurse.
Unfortunately he had to work twelve hour shifts these past two days, but still has managed to find ways to show me he can take the very best of care of me. I'm simply grateful that I should be better by this weekend.

It was so strange being ill... I felt very vulnerable emotionally. The least little thing would set me off – poor Miles would find me all weepy over the silliest of things. He can handle me angry, but weepy throws him for a loop. We have a lot of power when we weep, women! I was so maudlin – playing the saddest music I could find... It was downright pitiful is what it was. I dislike feeling weak, but it caused me to appreciate the fact that at least for me, this is a passing thing. What about some of you, out there, who are sick more than this, have chronic illnesses? I thank the Lord for bringing me to this place where I can appreciate how it might feel, even briefly, for some of you. I can tell you the world does look different from the sickbed!

Its our anniversary on February 4th, so we will take this weekend away from the world. So I won't be blogging ... we need some downtime. I'm so looking forward to putting on a nice dress and going out for dinner. I loved my Jammies Party but after 3 days in these things I'm ready for a drastic change. I'm ready for hair color, stick on nails, make-up, jewelery and high heels.

So don't fear if you are not seeing any of your layouts or pj pics for a few more days as I will post all that good stuff next week. For now, I do want to post an amazing recipe I concocted just before I got sick. It's my take on an apple strudel using phyllo ... and its a low fat version!



BARB'S SMARTER APPLE STRUDEL
(makes 2)

5 apples, peeled, quartered and cut into 1/3 inch thick slices, horizontally
2 tbsp jelly powder
2 cups cornflakes – put em in the blender and whir till its the consistency of crumbs.
Becel (or any brand) butter flavor cooking spray
6 tsp sugar
cinnamon
allspice
12 sheets of phyllo

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toss the apples with the jelly powder (in case you wonder, yes, its the jelly powder that makes wiggly jiggly jelly - any flavor will do) , cinnamon and allspice, and ½ cup of the cornflake crumbs.

Lay out a clean tea towel so it's lengthwise in front of you. Lay a sheet of phyllo on it. Sprinkle with ½ tsp sugar and a good sprinkle of cornflake crumbs (I use a strainer and just shake it over liberally)

Repeat till you have 6 layers. Now, take ½ the apples and lay them in a line, lengthwise on the phyllo pastry, about 3 inches from the edge closest to you. Roll up jelly roll fashion. Tuck the ends underneath. Gently lift roll onto a cookie sheet covered with foil, or parchment paper.

Repeat for the second roll.

Loosely tent foil over the strudels. Bake for 15 mintues, remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove and cool on a rack. To store I wrap mine in a clean dishcloth and keep it in the fridge – stays a nice texture!

NOTE: the cornflakes amount is a general amount – you may need to grind more, depending on how many you need. (I did not measure absolutely as I went along)
BARB'S HANDY TIP #191
Be Safe with Your Skin!
I listened to an ear-opening radio article the other day on the safety of our cosmetics - I HIGHLY recommend you take some time to learn about what you might, in good faith, be putting on your skin, thinking its safe... you might be surprized....
Did you know...

Major loopholes in federal law allow the $35 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements.

18 comments:

  1. Oh your duck is so adorable !
    Thank you for sharing it with us !

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  2. Thank you sooo much for sharing the duck..how cute!!:)
    Hope you get well real soon.

    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!Enjoy your time together..be sure to take picks of you all dolled up.:)


    Hugs,
    Valinda

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  3. Hello sick friend - glad to hear you're on the mend. I had to go walking all by myself this week *whine sniffle pout*

    I can't imagine so many of the chemicals for our skin. I have very sensitive skin. I use hot TEA to wash my face with, herbal tea is even better. It is so gentle. I don't even use a terry cloth but a bandana type cloth to be even gentler. Chammomile is supposedly the most gentle. My herbal friend recommended it & it feels great. Natural oils also, like marigolds and oils from other gentle flowers are good for replenishing dry skin & healing blemishes quickly. Its a bit sticky but in the morning, my face feels amazing!

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  4. adorable ducky! thank you!
    draw yourself some chicken soup and get well! :-)

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  5. So glad to hear you are feeling better. Happy Anniversary! Hope you have a very relaxing and wonderful weekend together. My husband and I celebrated 36 years in January! So just enjoy the time. BettyJoR

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  6. Hi Barb...Sickie three checking in! I just wanted to say I hope you & Miles have a lovely Anniversary!!! I hope you are feeling better soon friend! ((hugs)) Love the little ducky how sweet!! Thank you so much!

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  7. sorry you are still under the weather. we are both having jammies day today but no pictures from me. i feel like a beached whale.

    thanks again for the duck, lily thinks its super cute.

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  8. Hope you feel better soon. These bugs can be nasty...

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  9. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!
    Have fun and enjoy yourselves!
    Thank you for the cute duck!!!!

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  10. Oh!I don't know whether to wish you a Happy Anniversary first or to wish you WEll! Well, how bout bouth at once! Have a wonderful Anniversary and a speedy recovery. Thanks so much for thinking of us too while you're down. Love the duckie! :D

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  11. Happy Anniversary...enkpy ..love you both ..thanks for the duck ..love him..his a cutey

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  12. I know your not home today...but wanted to stop back and say "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!"

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  13. Okay that duck is just too cute! Thanks you. I hope that by now you are feeling far better. Sorry I haven't commented much this week but you know I've been on the mend and you have the longest blog entries(I'm not complaining they just take time to get thru) so I didn't have time at the end to comment much. I love you and hope you are feeling better. If not I'll be forced to drastic measures.
    Hugs,
    -Amy

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  14. Mrs Miles, I TOTALLY LOVE your blog! I think it is SO cool that you have that little ribbon across the upper right hand corner, "As for me and my BLOG, we will searve the LORD!" I LOVE IT!
    Love in Christ,
    Cheryl

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  15. Thank you for the cute duck!! Hope you are feeling better.

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  16. Happy Anniversary! I hope you had a great time getting all dressed up, make-up, press-on nails, etc. and got to go out somewhere nice to celebrate.

    DH took me shopping yesterday for our 10th anniversary (on Valentine's Day) but we had to leave my new pretty at the jewelers' to be resized.

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  17. 2-5-07
    How are you doing today? Miss you..get well real soon.:)


    Hugs,
    Valinda

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  18. TFS I love your inspired flower!

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