Would You Pick Up a Penny?

If you saw a penny on the ground, would you pick it up?  I wouldn't.  After all, it's just a penny.  Why, if I wanted to buy a candy bar for 98 cents using picked-up pennies, I'd have to bend down 98 times!

There is a suggestion out there that the US should do away with pennies because it costs more to make them than they are worth.  The other side of that argument is that if prices are rounded up to the nickel instead of using the penny, we will all be paying more for our goods.

At least we can all agree that, monetarily, a penny is worth almost nothing. 

However, don't stop with that thought!   I have just finished reading a book in which a penny is so important that it was given the honor of being the title of the book!

The Penny by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford is a powerful, can't-stop-reading kind of book.  I literally could not stop reading until the very last chapter, paragraph, and word.  And then there was still the epilogue to hungrily devour!

Fourteen-year-old Jenny Blake and her older sister Jean were living at home with their abusive father. Jean  thought she had escaped the helpless situation by  going away to to college.  But when she returned, she remarked that, "There's no way out, really, is there? . . . This house.  What Daddy does to us," she said. "You can't run away from it, . . .  It follows you every place you go."

But--don't forget about the picked-up penny! 

Early in the book, Jenny says: "That's the very moment I first saw the penny.  And that's the moment where this story really begins.  The penny lay wheat-side-up on the ground, so dirty as to almost be invisible. . . I wasn't accustomed to picking up pennies . . . A penny is such a little thing--it's never been worth much.  I stared at it, stepped over it, and headed toward my sister . . .I did walk past the penny at first.  When something whispered, Pick it up, Jenny--little things make a big difference, my heart almost paused in my chest.  And I knew it without a doubt.  As surely as if someone well trusted had whispered it in my ear.  This moment has something to do with your destiny.  It was only a matter of seconds before I went back.  Seconds, I found out later, that would change everything.  


Oh, if you only read one book from now until the year 2015, let it be, The Penny!  This book begins with a dirty, picked-up penny.  That same penny leads to new friendships, forgiveness, freedom, and changed lives.

Nominations For The World's Worst Mothers

Nominations for the world's worst mothers . . . in the Animal Kingdom, that is!

We all want to believe that animal mothers always take good care of their young.  But they don't always!

A female ostrich leaves her eggs immediately after she lays them.  It is the male that keeps the eggs warm so they hatch. He is the one who looks after the young and teaches them to live on their own.  (photo by Darrensp, Dreamstime.com)

A Magellanic Penguin mother will lay two eggs and want both to hatch.  Her "worst mother" tendencies show up when she gives 90% of the fish to one chick.  Of course, that one grows and grows while the smaller chick cries pitifully for food and dies in the coldness of Antarctica.  A Royal Penguin mother lays two eggs every season.  The second egg is over a half larger than the first egg laid, so the mother simply rolls the first egg out of the nest.  So long, baby Royal!

Black Bears want to have two or three cubs in their litters.  It takes just as much time and involvement to raise just one cub as to raise twins or triplets.  So, often when a black mama bear has just one cub, she will abandon it, hoping to give her efforts to raising a larger litter the next time.  Apparently just one cub simply isn't worth the effort!  (Photo by Eppic, Dreamstime.com)

The African Black Eagle is definitely in the running for one of the worst animal mothers.  Usually she lays two eggs.  But then mommy eagle will feed only one chick.  The stronger chick will eventually peck the weaker chick to death.  Mommy just looks on, emotionless while one of her babies is being killed.

We usually think of  lionesses feeding and caring for all the cubs in their particular pride.  However, when a new male takes over the group, he kills any cubs in order to keep them from eventually challenging him for his position as head of the pride.  The lionesses allow all of this to happen without objecting.  And, of course, not having young cubs, caused the lionesses to go into heat sooner, enabling the new head male to begin his own dynasty. 

The cuckoo is, in my opinion, the laziest of all mothers!  She will lay her egg in another bird's nest. So another mother takes on the job of hatching and raising the baby cuckoo.   The cuckoo egg usually hatches before the other eggs so the cuckoo chick grows faster than the other baby birds.  The smaller birds are pushed out of the nest and die.  Then the cuckoo gets all the attention of the adoptive parents.

Can you add any other "worst mothers in the animal kingdom?"

Hey, Mom!

(photo by Dreamstime.com)

Mother's Day is a holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May in the United States.  It is a day when children (small and adult) honor their mothers with gifts, flowers, and cards. 

In 1908, Ana Jarvis from West Virginia, U.S., started a campaign to observe a national Mother's Day.  She began with convincing her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate all mothers on the anniversary of her own mother's death.

Jarvis, along with others, began a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen, and politicians.  They urged support for their idea of a national Mother's Day.  It worked!  President Woodrow Wilson made an official announcement in 1914.  He proclaimed that Mother's Day would be a national observance held each year on the second Sunday in May.

The United States is not the only country honoring Mothers.  Many other countries celebrate Mother's Day at different times throughout the year.  Only Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium celebrate Mother's Day the same day as the United States.

Save On Groceries Before You Leave Home

Save on Groceries Before You Leave Home, by Jill Cooper

 (This article comes from www.LivingOnADime.com)

One of the easiest ways to save money on your grocery bill starts before you even leave the house. It's no extra work, you don't have to deprive yourself of anything and you don't have to clip any coupons. What is it? Stop wasting food.

On average most families throw away 50% of the food they buy. If you have trouble believing that then watch your family's eating habits for the next few days. How many times did your child eat only half of his lunch or dinner or drink only half of his glass of milk or juice? How much food gets thrown away when you wash dishes? How many fruits and vegetables have rotted and been tossed? How much meat have you thrown away because it is freezer burned? And what about those leftovers in the fridge or the cartons of sour milk?

If this is you, do you realize if you spend $400 a month on groceries you are literally throwing $200 of it into the trash? What would you think if someone you knew took two $100 bills and threw them away?!? That would make dumpster divers out of the most genteel among us.

Here are some ideas on how to help you to stop the waste:

1. 
   
   
   
   Only fill a child's (or adult's) glass half full if they normally don't drink it all. You can always give them more when that is gone. If they do have left over milk or juice at the end of the meal put it in the fridge for them to finish at another time.
   
   
2. 
   
   
   
   When you get ready to cook a piece of meat like a roast or chicken, plan ahead. For example, when I take a roast out to thaw I don't think, “Ok, we'll have roast and mashed potatoes tonight.” But I think “I will have roast and mashed potatoes tonight, Bar-B-Q beef tomorrow and beef and noodles the next night.” That way you won't find yourself three days later gazing guiltily at that dying leftover roast thinking, “I really should do something with this but what?” and then end up throwing it out a week later.
   
   
3. 
   
   
   
   Check your fridge the night before you go to the grocery store. That way you can plan your menus and choose what to buy based on the leftovers you have.
   
   
4. 
   
   
   
   If all else fails, make one night a week as leftover night. That's when you set out all your odds and ends of leftovers for everyone to polish off. This is especially good if you do it the night before you buy groceries because this leaves your fridge empty for the new things you are buying tomorrow.
   
   
   
   

Appreciated Advice?

Familiar advice from Mother!

Your face will freeze like that.

What if someone told you to jump off a cliff--would you do it?

Always wear clean underwear; you never know when you"ll be in an accident.

Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been.

Close the door.  Were you born in a barn?

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Be careful or you'll knock your eye out.

You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes.

What advice can you add that your mother gave you? Or that you, as a mother, give your kids?  (Please comment!)

Shoo, Fly!

What do you save room for on Thanksgiving?  Pie!

Yet, there was probably no pumpkin, apple, or pecan pie at the First Thanksgiving Feast in 1621.  The Pilgrims had venison and fowl to cook with, and it quite likely that their pies were made with these meats.

My family--being Pennsylvania Dutch--always adds Shoo Fly Pie to our dessert menu on every holiday.

The name certainly gets attention!  The "fun" reason for the name is that the farmer's wife put the pie in the window for it to cool, but the sweetness attracted the flies. So she shooed them away.  So,  Shoo Fly Pie. However, some people spoil that fun and claim shoofly is an alteration of some German word.  (The Pennsylvania Dutch today are descendants from German-speaking immigrants.  The German word for German is "Deutsch."  So we are really Pennsylvania Germans or Deutsch who somehow ended up being called Pennsylvania Dutch.)

Anyway, here is my sister's recipe for Shoo Fly Pie:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 T. shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 cup King syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup hot water

Make crumbs of flour, dark brown sugar, and shortening.  Reserve 1/2 cup for topping.

In a separate bowl, mix egg, King syrup, and 3/4 cup hot water. Add to dry mixture.

Dissolve baking soda in remaining 1/4 cup water.  Add to mixture.  Pour into unbaked pie shell. Top with reserved 1/2 cup crumbs.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

My favorite pie is, yes, the Shoo Fly Pie!  What is your favorite pie and/or pie story? Please comment!

Wait Until It Turns Funny Colors and Smells Bad!

(Photo by Amaviael, Dreamstime.com)

Remember when you added too much salt to the soup?  You couldn't stand to throw it out right away; that would have been wasteful.  So you shoved it to the back of the refrigerator.  And when it turned funny colors and smelled bad--then you felt OK about throwing it out!

So you already know that when you've mistakenly added too much salt or sugar to a recipe, you  cannot undo it and take it out. 

But one way to fix your problem is to add more of the ingredients in that particular recipe without adding more of the salt or sugar.

You will, of course, end up with a lot more food. You might like that. You could have leftovers, which would mean tomorrow's lunch or dinner is already planned. Or maybe this is a recipe that can be frozen for another time.

However, you may choose to not have so much extra food. You will need tips for fixing too salty or too sugary food. 

Too Salty

    If you mistakenly added too much salt to a recipe, add a small amount of white distilled vinegar.  

    You can also try adding a teaspoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar to cut the salt.

    If you are cooking a very salty ham, try adding vinegar to it to eliminate some of the salty taste.

Too Sugary

    If you have mistakenly added too much sugar to a cooked meal, add a teaspoon of apple cider OR white distilled vinegar.  It will reduce the sweetness and save the meal!