So, you can see my Facebook status here and on Plaxo. Enjoy!
So, there it is. Plaxo will import Facebook stuff automatically. Don’t visit Plaxo as often as Facebook, but notice that everyone can see a Facebook status update here automatically by default. Hmm…
I am very aware of mitochondrial disease every day. You wake up and take inventory, seems that your body boundaries are defined by pain. You long for socializing, but fear that catching whatever is going around may give you a permanent setback. Often the effort of getting somewhere is so tiring it prevents you enjoying the activity once there. Even with it being over 10 years since diagnosis, you continually discover yet another thing that depends on functioning mitochondria. It is scary stuff too — like cancer, mental illness, dementia, inflammatory disease, deafness, blindness, kidney failure, diabetes, etc. Every time you seek medical treatment you fear that a well-meaning physician may unwittingly prescribe something that causes dreadful side-effects in mito patients. Even something so simple as lighting a candle is an issue — part of my symptoms seem to be sensitivity to fumes including those from burning paraffin (wax) candles.
And then there is the long history of bad encounters with private health insurance that are typical of patients with chronic disease. These are scary times in USA.
I have pretty much gotten through the stages of mourning the person I thought I was before I got ill. It is still hard to write this.
This used to be the question asked about President Kennedy’s assassination, now it seems to be for 9/11.
I had left my apartment to catch the MCTA 15 bus to the South Shore YMCA for a water exercise class. I remember it was a gloriously beautiful early autumn day. The maples start to change color in late August in Milwaukee. I saw the footage on the locker room TV. One young woman kept asking “Is this the end of the world?”
I guess it was for people in USA in a way. It certainly lead to changes:
The clear skies persisted for several days with an almost eerie silence. All but military aircraft were grounded so only heard one big cargo propeller aircraft trace the Lake Michigan shoreline in all those days. It was like we as a country were holding our breath, hoping that the rescue workers in NYC might uncover a survivor, wondering if there would be more attacks.
Recently a friend expressed interest in some of the recipes I have been using for wheat-free meals. Like science, recipes are probably in the spirit of Open Source although they predate it. The new things are built on the work of others.
The first recipe can be considered a gluten-free bread substitute. The second is not easily categorized but makes a tasty breakfast.
Enjoy!
Cornbread
3/4 cup stone ground (whole grain) or regular (degerminated) yellow corn meal
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher)
[optional: 1 tablespoon ground flax seed]
Mix these dry ingredients then work in like for pastry:
2 tablespoons butter
Beat together than add to dry ingredients:
A: 1/4 cup milk and 1 egg [for topping chili]
OR
B: 1 egg, beat and make up to 3/4 cup with milk
Contrary to what many quickbread or pancake recipes say, since this is gluten-free, you can beat it as much as you want without it getting tough.
For a chili casserole, option A, place several cups of chili in the bottom of a pan and drop the batter by tablespoons on the surface. Bake at 350° F for about 45 minutes.
For a pan of bread, option B, pour the batter into a buttered 8 inch diameter ovenproof pie plate and bake at 350° F for about 30 minutes. For a dessert bread, add dry currents or raisins to the batter. For a darker crust, melt the butter in the pan then beat it into the egg and milk. Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Cottage Cheesecake/Pancake
Beat two eggs until light and foamy.
Add a pinch of salt and one tablespoon sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved and the eggs are lemony in color and light.
In a separate bowl, beat 1/2 cup cottage cheese (I have been using 4% milkfat minimum Daisy brand which does not contain artificial thickeners).
When the cottage cheese is smooth beat in the eggs and 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Take care to scrape the bottom of the bowl to mix well.
Pour into a well buttered 8 inch ovenproof glass baking dish and bake at 325° F about 30 minutes or until it is browned and the center is firm.
Serve warm topped with fresh fruit or a tart jam.
This morning when I let Bode out it was cool, about 60° F (16° C). I heard geese nearby and looked up to see them flying in two Vs heading south.
What started as a few tentative cricket and katydid soloists a few weeks ago has turned into a swelling chorus in the evenings. It has been dry enough the past two nights to keep the windows open and listen.
The Heritage red raspberry canes have buds and blossoms — the second crop is starting.
When I went to the Farmer’s Market in West Kittanning yesterday morning found more stands than usual with three or four varieties of apples. I got Summer Rambo apples, peaches, and nectarines. Bought some lovely tomatoes, cabbage, and onion at a stand being run by an Amish man and his three young sons. The boys were learning the ropes while enjoying the day out, probably amused by us English customers. (I am still hopeful to get more tomatoes from my plants.)
Was thinking of how people outside a given community are described. The Amish call people like me English because we speak English despite the country of origin of ancestors. When I was working at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, a graduate student whose roots were Orthodox Jewish from the Bronx would laugh and say that Utah was the only place on earth where he was considered a gentile — by the predominantly Mormon (LDS) population. Despite differences, people seem to try to get along and be good neighbors. That is why the disturbances at town meetings recently have been so disappointing, misinformation spread by demagogues is spoiling things for everyone. Do you feel the chill?
