The Lovely Eggs

Please go HERE to read a fabulous post that Rebecca put up at her blog..Cape Coop. See what I mean about her/their attitude of being grateful?

Do yourself a huge favor today..and read the rest of her blog posts. You'll be so glad you did.

This is one of my favorites as well...The Jacket.


P.S. Send a note to Oprah..HERE. Please. This would be a fantastic show for her FINAL SEASON.

Rebecca's daughter's name is Elissa. They live in Salem, N.J. my contact info is melody4853@sbcglobal.net.

Help Rebecca and her Daughter...please

I met Rebecca through other FB friends. This is her story. She is "living" from cancer. She is an amazing woman.

She lives in New Jersey..not too far from Philadelphia. She needs help. She knows that her daughter, who is now 21, will be left alone in a house that needs lots of work. It was formerly a large chicken coop. Her daughter has been by her side all the way! I've written to The Nate Berkus show...he needs to go help her fix her place up. She especially needs a decent bathtub! Write to whatever show or person you can! Do you know people in New Jersey? Know anyone who needs to donate some money? It cannot be TO Rebecca..as she'll lose her only means to pay for her cancer treatment. It could go to her adult daughter though!

If you have any ideas at all...speak up please. She is going through Chemo and Radiation now..and she had to beg for that treatment...they were going to give up on her! She has no idea I am doing this...and she might not like it. We'll see.

Read on, from a post at her blog..Cape Coop and scroll down.

Cutaneous Lymphomas are rare (the ratio is 1:400,000), incredibly painful and incurable diseases. They are considered the most painful of the cancers, for they cause enduring pain by damaging the skin and causing most tumors to form on the skin. Most patients are misdiagnosed for years, only to be diagnosed properly if they become Stage IV and are covered in painful tumors, yes, all over their bodies.

As I shared with you earlier, I have stage IV Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma. I suffer every moment.

I rarely can sit at the computer- my tumors make sitting difficult. I rarely go out, it is a great chore to bandage most of my tumors and to then put clothing on over the tumors, and moving is painful. I must 'sleep' most of the time, because as I am trying to sleep my tumors are bleeding and rubbing against the bedclothes, waking me up with pain, over and over again.

I can't work and I sometimes feel useless in this cancer battling body.

Today it is believed that these lymphomas are most often caused by chemical exposure- somehow damage is caused to the DNA that sends instructions for manufacture of whatever cells are affected- in my case, the t-cells. My DNA is damaged and it gives the bone marrow instructions to manufacture cancerous, that is, immature, t-cells. Someday we will be able to repair DNA damage, but not today.

If you were exposed to Agent Orange during armed service and contract one of these lymphomas- you immediately get full veterans' disability benefits.

Some medications for psoriasis and arthritis can cause these cancers.

If you are a civilian you just run through your insurance and savings, most of the time ending up broke and uninsured if you are lucky enough to live for more than 18 months. I am that lucky.

The only treatments we have for this at my stage are chemotherapy and radiation, they can't even give someone at my stage a remission, and rarely 'work' much, if at all. For me, nothing has 'worked', as yet. I've tried over a dozen chemotherapy drugs and combinations, and I've had both total skin electron beam radiation AND spot radiation. Although nothing has worked so far on my case, I maintain hope for some comfort and I continue to try to receive treatment.

Some patients at my stage have a bone marrow transplant. It isn't a cure, but it does sometimes give the patient a little more time, sometimes as much as 18 months, before the patient succumbs, finally, to either infection or host versus graft disease. I'm not ready to have a due date, so this option isn't one I am willing to take, for now.

So, Rebecca and her daughter will see all posts. I will ask Rebecca or Elissa if I can pass on their phone number, etc. Anyway...you can always link this blog post and I can share the info. Thanks again..for any and all input/suggestions. Know anyone who works at a home improvement store??? :)

Green Goat is on the move

Green Goat, aka "Creamer", trying to hide in the bathroom. Not very clever.
Opened the fridge to get this addictive Karoun Labne..... and there he was.

Later, he was trying to "hide" in the bathroom..again~the plant on the back of toilet. Maybe he's feeling sick again.

Green Goat comes to Cooking Schmooking

Frozen with fear.
Don't jump!
Hiding in fridge...trying to blend in.
Luckily the plug didn't work!
Water-logged!
Just relax...
Green Goat is so happy with Kevin.


I decided to participate in Nanny Goats in Panties white elephant exchange. I gave Margaret my name and other info and she paired everyone up.. not sure how she did it. I bet she put our names into the toilet bowl and then fished em out..two at a time! Or maybe not. Anyway, I got my white elephant gift from Kate. I love the name of her blog.....on a chicken wing and a prayer. She lives in West Texas and loves chicken wings and clean teeth!

She sent me a green goat and it was love at first sight. I named her/him Creamer... she/he is clearly a transgendered cat-hating goat. Cream (for short) kept hiding from me at first, got sick once, and even tried to jump off the fridge...but after a bit of "meditation" with my pig guru, Kevin Bacon, he/she is right at home now. Whew! They slept together the first night.

Thanks Kate!! I'll keep you posted on Creamer's progress.

[this is what I sent to Pam in Rochester, NY)

How To Spell Relief... at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco

Kusmi Tea -Winter Fancy Food show

Corned Beef..one step closer to pastrami!

Last month I made corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots...a favorite comfort meal of ours.
Today I smoked some corned beef...the first step in making pastrami out of it. First, I rubbed all sides of the corned beef with a mixture of ground juniper berries, black peppercorns, garlic powder, and salt...then wrapped in plastic wrap and tossed in fridge for 28 hours. I rigged up my own "stove-top smoker". Those are hickory chips. I put a large piece of foil over the above chips and platform..poked holes in it then put the beef down on top. Then I wrapped it all tightly with more foil...turned up the burner! I let it smoke for about 30 minutes.
After smoking it...I added a bit of water (discarded the chips, etc) and let it cook at 240 degrees for 4 hours...covered.
I then tried to cut it thinly and then put it back in that lovely, smokey au jus. I needed a real meat slicer. It was okay...but not really good pastrami. I might try it again one day...from a beef brisket....but that means curing it for 13 DAYS before smoking it. Whew!! Now I know why Jewish Deli's are dying! Some of those East Coast deli's pile a pound of pastrami between two pieces of rye. Pastrami-making is NOT for sissy's. We did have a sandwich with stone ground mustard on Jewish Rye....I didn't hate it!

That little bit of "pastrami" took me 2.5 days to make and it cost me (not including my labor) about $16.00. Don't gripe the next time you pay over 10 bucks for a deli pastrami sandwich!

A Few Favorite Food Finds or Dishes of 2010

Got coconut milk? Make this delicious mouth-watering Cambodian Corn. Grilled!
This little dumpling is so cute I just want to eat him up! Ashwin. He smells good too.
Harissa....the condiment of the gods. Goes well with Brik a' Leouf or tacos!
Turkey Schnitzel with mashed "horseradish" potatoes and cole slaw
Pasta with Rancho Gordo Beans....seriously good!
Brik a' Leouf....a brand new dish for me. Thank you Marlena Spieler! I LOVE it.

Latkes....is there anything better?
While blogging thru Marlena Spieler's Jewish Cooking Cookbook...I learned how to preserve meyer lemons. I made two jars and I am still using them. I love em. I also planted a meyer lemon tree and I got 10 lemons off of it recently! I use them in so many dishes. Umami!
I grew sooo many potatoes this past year...fresh potatoes are the best! This was my first harvest. I got about 10 more loads like that. It was a great summer and fall.
My friend Marcia Lowry lives on a ranch in Wyoming. She makes her own butter from her milk cow, Molly. Cheese too! I was inspired to take a cheesemaking class. My cheese didn't turn out so hot..but I'll try again

My new favorite hot sauce from Rancho Gordo. and their heirloom beans are being used in the best restaurants...even Thomas Keller's, French Laundry. I can't afford to eat THERE yet, but I have ordered those beans! Delicious. We don't eat enough really good fresh beans.

I could go on and on and on...but I thought a few highlites from 2010 would be nice.