Meatball, Lentil and Cabbage Hot Pot

 

We tried another of Jan's recipes that she posted on

The Low Carb Diabetic blog.

It's a very easy recipe to make

and it's delicious!

HERE is the link for the recipe.

The picture on that post is gorgeous.

I do apologize for the quality of my photos of late.

My computer won't allow me to download the pictures from my camera now.

So, I am having to use my phone camera.  

The lighting just isn't the same.

But don't let that stop you from going by to say hello to Jan.

The Forgotten Garden ~ a book review

 

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton revolves around Nell, a woman in her late 60's who is living in Australia and runs an antique shop...and trying to discover who she truly is.

Nell had been put on a ship in London at the age of four by The Authoress, told to stay put and not tell anyone who she was, with the promise from the Authoress that she would return shortly...only the Authoress didn't return before the ship embarked on its journey to Australia.  

When the ship was at dock and everyone else had disembarked, Nell sat on the wharf with her child's white suitcase, which held a few clothes and a book of fairy tales, because she didn't know what else to do.  The dockmaster, Hugh, talked with her and ended up taking her home that night.  He and his wife Lil raised Nell as their own.  It wasn't until Nell turned 21 that Hugh tells her that she isn't who she thinks she is.

Nell wants to know her true identity and returns to England to try and find out.  She's also curious about the woman, The Authoress, who had put her on the ship promising to return and yet never does.  

While Nell is in England, she does come across some leads and purchases a cottage that is on the Estate of a prominent family in that community...the prominent family that, in time, would be found out to be a part of Nell's family.

Nell does not accomplish the full knowledge of who she is before her death, but her granddaughter Cassandra pursues the matter further and the mystery is solved at the very end.  

It took me a bit to get thoroughly invested in the book because there is a time lapse that goes back and forth from 1913 to 2005, and several generations of family.  Once I got straightened out in my mind what characters fit in what time frame, I really enjoyed the read.  The book is 549 pages long...it was somewhere around page 100 or so, that, for me, it turned into a page turner of a read!

From My Journal

 TODAY IS: 7 April 2025

AROUND ME:  We are expecting snow tonight, which means that more than likely our fruit trees, which are now in bloom, will be non-fruit bearing this year, and the many flowers that are in bloom will be hurt.  We are rather "used to this" as we always have a snow sometime around Easter, which we refer to as our Easter Snow, but it's still a bit sad.

I AM PONDERING: how a sweet baby girl that I held in my arms for the first time 21 years ago has managed to become such a wonderful human being in what seems like only a few years.  Although we won't be together today, I still am wishing her the best birthday ever today!

AMONG MY FAVORITE THINGS: 

A Wildflower picture from when we visited the WV Botanical Gardens.

BOOKS I AM CURRENTLY ENJOYING: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Silas Marner by George Elliot

I AM THANKFUL FOR:  spring rains, sunshine, and blooming flowers and trees.

FROM THE KITCHEN: 

Meatball, Lentil and Cabbage Hot Pot

(Recipe link coming up on Wednesday)

SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY:  

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:  

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

(Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

TO DO LIST FOR TODAY: Laundry

"So teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:1

Be Encouraged

 

Dandelion Summer ~ a book review

 

Dandelion Summer by Lisa Wingate is a book that I will not soon forget.

This is #4 in the Blue Sky Hill series and with this being the first book that I've read by this author, I had not read the first three books, but it did stand well on its own.

The story primarily deals with two individuals,

J. Norman Alvord, who is a man in his 70s who is retired from his work at Cape Canaveral.  

Epiphany Jones is a 16-year-old girl whose father was black and her mother Italian.  Her mother's family, who owned and operated an upscale Italian restaurant, disowned her when she became involved with Epiphany's father and then had Epiphany.  

"J. Norm", as Epiphany refers to him throughout the book, is a widower, just having lost his wife a few months prior to the story's beginning.  His daughter, with whom he did not have a good relationship, is concerned about his safety and has been trying to persuade him to give up his home and move into an assisted living facility.

When J. Norm doesn't agree to the plan, Deborah agrees to hire someone to come to the house one day a week to do the cleaning and prepare a meal for her dad.  He finally begrudgingly consents to that arrangement.

Shortly thereafter is when Epiphany enters into the story. She's had a very unstable life because of her mother's indiscretion with men.  For a time, they had lived in another part of Texas, and they had lived with an older woman who had taken Epiphany under her wing, giving her a lot of good wisdom and taking her to church.  When they moved to the current location where this story takes place, Epiphany had to start in a new school where she was constantly bullied by the other pupils because she was of a mixed race.

In time, Epiphany went to work for J. Norm and little by little they became great friends.  He became like a grandfather to Epiphany, as she helped him to try and solve the mystery of his childhood because of some reoccurring dreams he had.

I enjoyed this book immensely because it dealt with social issues that in today's culture, I feel gets overlooked.  In reading Epiphany's story, it caused me to think about things that I hadn't really dwelt much on before...

things like what a child who is bullied goes through, and how the actions of parents can set their children up for hard times.

Definitely recommend...especially if you like surprise endings.  

Rustic Ratatouille

 

This has become one of our favorite meals/side dishes.

The recipe came from Jan at The Low Carb Diabetic blog.

Oh, my goodness!

You seriously need to try this if you enjoy roasted vegetables!

While I wasn't able to acquire the fennel bulb,

I added diced parsnips in its place.

If you enlarge the picture, you will see

eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, yellow peppers, grape tomatoes, onions and garlic!

The recipe calls for fresh basil which I did not have,

so, I used dried.

I found this recipe probably six weeks or so ago

and we've already had it four times!

Yes, it's that good!

Please pop over and say hello to Jan.

She's such a delightful person and posts wonderful recipes.

When the Negative Becomes the Positive ~ Resilience

 Our prompt for this month from Lisa was to think about our One Word for 2025 in relation to its synonyms and antonyms.

As you may remember, if you have followed along with me this year, my One Word for 2025 is Resilience.  I'd done a listing of synonyms at the beginning of the year and thought it would be fun to just recheck both synonyms and antonyms and see if I have experienced any of the words on the lists. 

I wanted to take you along with me on this journey...so let's begin.

DEFINITION OF RESILIENCE: "the ability to withstand or adjust to challenges" (according to Merriam-Webster)

SYNONYMS: strength, tenacity, power, doggedness, potency, persistence, stubbornness, grit, perseverance, fortitude.

ANTONYMS:  weakness, helplessness, dependence, inadequacy.

First and foremost, I want to stress the fact that while I have gained strength these last three months, it's not been my strength, but rather God's strength.  The opposite of strength is weakness, and THAT is what I lay claim to as my own, for without it, I would not know HIS strength.

Without really sharing personal experiences (for isn't that where we learn our most valuable lessons?), I've learned that in my times of helplessness, once again, the power I needed was not my own, but HIS.  

I've learned that acquiring resilience definitely requires persistence and to be fair, that does require a bit of stubbornness (which I plead guilty to when it is necessary).  Where do I acquire such persistence?  It can only come through my dependence on HIM.  It's the same with perseverance.  I found that I can only persevere through dependence on HIM.

Developing resilience definitely requires fortitude, because I quickly learned that what I have to offer is inadequacy apart from HIM.  

Most of what I am learning about resilience is that it is a gift from my Heavenly Father...and my growth in that area is gauged by how much I depend on HIM.