Too Old To Hire?

Dear Employers and recruiters,
There are many advantages in hiring old folks like me.
For starters we don’t have all the distractions we had 20 years ago and we are happy to fill in when you have yours.
We remember kid’s sick days, teacher conference days, soccer tournaments, and all that stuff . We get it! Some of us are just happy to support you.
Majority of us older folks don’t care about your benefits, insurance, overtime, and other incentives as much as we used to. We just want a job and to fit in.
We are not here to intimidate you with our amazing experience and win the boss with our irresistible good looks. We are here to work and take direction.
An older person is as eager to learn and train as much as anyone. Unlike you young things we don’t feel like we know it all. It’s a great new world and we want a part of it. We just want a purpose, we want to be counted, to be acknowledged, to be respected.
Please keep in mind that we have met them all, seen them all, dealt with them all. So you may want to pick our brains in how we dealt with the drama queens and kings of the past and survived it. If you think we are set in our ways, please know that we have gone from shorthand and typewriters, to stalking your asses on Social Media.
If we were stuck in our ways, you would not be able to read this as it would be on a physical paper and you don’t read that.
We old folks bring more than muffins to your business. We bring knowledge, experience, integrity, respect, and professionalism . Since integrity and respect got lost between, us teaching you how to write cursive and you interviewing us, we rarely expect it.
So when you go in another more progressive direction please know that if we weren’t progressive, you young guns would still be in diapers and sucking on our tits.
WE RAISED YOU, you ingrates!
Yours respectfully,
Older Candidate

Mean Green Healthy Drink!

2 Kale leaves
2 bok choy leaves
1/2 carrot sliced
1c frozen pineapple, papaya, strawberry mix
1/2 kiwi sliced
1 medium apple sliced
1tsp raw honey
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 tsp Macha powder (green tea powder)
1 cup coconut water
In blender (we use a Vitamix) put all green leaf veggies in first. Add Coco water and blend for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and blend for 3 minutes or more.
Makes two quart mason jars full.
My husband takes one to work and I get the other one.
This is drink is full of healthy energy to get us through the day. I seriously feel the sluggishness the day I don’t drink it.
At night we usually have a healthy dinner.

Planting these and more this summer for our green drinks. Stay tune!

Quick Healthy Snack

APPLE SLICES WITH ALMOND BUTTER

I’m down two sizes since December 30, 2013. This is one of my daily rituals.

2 teaspoons of organic raw almond butter
1 apple cut in slices (I also use carrots, celery, bananas, whatever you want)

It seems like a small amount but I usually get full after a couple of slices so I share the rest with my dogs.

Ginger Lemonade (cold and flu buster)

I am convinced concoction healed me from the awful cough, sore throat, horrid bug that is going around.

• 1/2 c of Ginger cut in very thin slices
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 gallon of water minus 3 cups
• 1/2c of Raw, 100% pure honey (use whatever you have)
• frozen raspberries or blue berries (opt)
• Juice of 5 or 6 fresh lemons (or more or less. Up to you how tangy you like).

Mix honey and ginger and set aside.
Boil 3 cups of water.
Pour 3 cups of piping bubbly boiling water over ginger/sugar and let seep for 20 minutes covered.
Meanwhile squeeze lemons and add to the pitcher with cold water.
After the ginger has sat for 20 minutes in the boiling water strain over lemon/water mixture in pitcher.
Mix well, add to a glass full of ice, add a few frozen raspberries.
It can be made as a hot drink too, Just heat in micro.
I drink at least one glass a day when I am not sick and up to three when I am in the middle of a hellish cold.

Corn Pudding

• 2 cups of kernels (fresh is best but frozen is ok)
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (any cheese you want) I used mozzarella
• 1 cup of milk (I used silk coffee creamer as it is all I had)
• 2 eggs
• 1 chopped green bell pepper but any pepper is ok
• 1/2  med yellow onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/3 cup flour
• pinch of cayenne
• pinch of fresh ground black pepper
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Prepare pan with butter or olive oil. This makes a 9 inch pie pan or oval of same size.

Whisk eggs and milk and set aside. In a large bowl mix remaining ingredients.

Add egg mixture to corn mixture fold until mixed then pour in pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set.

Easy carrot spice cake

• 1 box of Spice Cake mix
• 1 small can of crushed pineapple (drain juice)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup of water or milk
• 1/2 cup of raisins white or dark
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot (2 large ones )
• 1/2 cup of coconut flakes
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows) Make this before anything and put in refrigerator so it sets good.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 sticks of cream cheese (low fat ok)
• 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp melted butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice (opt)
• 1/2 coconut flakes to sprinkle on top (optional)

Whip until fluffy .

Cake directions:

Heat oven at 350F degrees.  Prepare your pans; Two round 9 inch or a 13 x 9 pyrex.

In a med bowl mix drained pineapple, raisins, coconut and nuts set aside.

In large bowl (Mixer bowl) mix cake, water, eggs, oil and flour. Slowly stir in pineapple mixture.

Divide into pans or pour onto large pyrex.

Bake for 35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean yaddy yadda. You know the drill.

Cool completely for over an hour. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD WITH LEMON GLAZE

Blueberry Lemon Bread

We are on fruits and veggies overload (’tis the season).

So in thinking of fresh new things to make with fresh veggies and fruits before they rot in my awesome Bolga Baskets, I went to consult the greats on my kitchen bookshelf; My crush, Tom Douglas, my beloved, Martha Stewart, The Old Farmer’s Almanac and Country Living Magazine.

So which recipe did I use? A compilation or messy mess that turned out to be my very own creation, purely out of necessity.  Quick tip and note to self: Read recipes, do inventory, go shopping and be ready. I neither had buttermilk nor enough butter, lemons, etc. etc. and etc.

Here’s my version which (if I do say so myself) turned out amazing!

To make four small loaves or 2 8 x4 loaf pans I did this.

BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD WITH LEMON GLAZE

INGREDIENTS:

1 !!!ENTIRE!!!! stick of butter melted and let it cool.

1/3 cup of cream cheese room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs room temperature

2 lemons juiced (not like MLB players… har har!)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup coconut milk or use regular milk or that dreaded buttermilk

4 tablespoons lemon zest and I saved some for the glaze

2 cups super fresh farmers market blueberries. I’m sure this recipe will work with any berry.

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tequila shot of lemon juice (I used Italian Volcano 100% Organic Lemon Juice from a bottle! but you can use anything I’m sure)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degree F (175 C ) Prepare loaf pans with butter and flour or line or spray with cooking spray. It all works.
2. Zest two lemons into a small bowl. Slice naked lemons and juice into a strainer to avoid the pesky seeds. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl mix all dry ingredients; Flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside ……Save a tablespoon of dry mixture and shake it into the blueberries until coated.
4. So now you have a medium bowl with flour mixture, a small bowl of washed and towel padded blueberries that have been coated with flour mixture, zest bowl and juice bowl.
5. In a large bowl (KitchenAid or hand mixers work too), cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add eggs one by one and beat well then mix in lemon juice beating for another 2 minutes.
7. Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk on slower speed. Once it is all wet run it on a higher speed for about 2 minutes to fluff it up a bit.
8. Add lemon zest on low speed for a bit, just to mix.
9. Remove bowl from mixer and with a spoon gently fold in blueberries.
10. Pour evenly into prepared pans. ((((NOTE: if you don’t want to use glaze this is the moment to sprinkle with hard raw sugar I use Torbinado (my fav)…))))
11. Put in oven and bake for 1 hour for the large loaves and 45 minutes for the small loaves. Check with the baking stick if it comes out clean ..yaddy yadda… it’s done.
12. Turn over on a cooling rack and cool for about five minutes and then drizzle glaze and let cool for 30 minutes before wrapping with pretty paper or just eat it!

Berry Bread Pudding

My friend Dana posted a recipe today on Facebook that gave me an idea. I hurriedly (<–is that a word?)…. ok, I rushed to see what I had.

• I used week old bread about six slices (9 grain)
• a cup of mixed frozen mixed berries
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup whipping cream + 1/2 coffee creamer (hee hee no milk here)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 stick of melted butter for sprinkle at top.

I whipped creams, eggs, cinnamon, salt sugar then add the cubed bread and let soak for a bit.

Pour onto a buttered pan, sprinkle butter over everything and bake for 45 minutes.

Doesn’t look as good as it tastes. It tastes great!

 

 

Butternut Squash Spinach Cheese Tart

This recipe was inspired by the book The Great British Farmhouse but I ended up making so many substitutions that it is now a warm delicious mess of wonderfulness replica.

Pressed for time and not wanting to convert grams into ….what ever it is that I had to convert it to and Celsius into Fahrenheit and blah blah blah.(insert lazy and ignorant here)  I went with, Oh screw it! I’ll make up my own!…… but of course using some or most of their instructions.

Conversions:

Sour cream/whipping cream combo instead of double cream: I used sour cream instead of double cream because I had no idea what the British mean by double cream. Whatever! My conversion turned out great. My brain said, Sour cream + whipping cream = double cream. voila!

Bought pie shells instead of their wholemeal pastry…(who has time?)

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

• shallot chopped in small pieces (their recipe calls for red onions cut into long pieces but I had a shallot so thus the substitute)
• 1 half or as much as you want. Butternut squashed in small cubes
• 2tbsps olive oil
• 1.5 cup (a huge salad bowl full) Spinach from my garden (added the “from my garden to impress”.  Insert applause please)
• 1.5 cup Shredded strong flavored cheese I used NO WOMAN BEECHER’S Cheese
• 4 eggs (organic free range blah blah)
• 1cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of whipping cream whipped together
• salt and pepper freshly ground
• store bought pastry shell 9″ I used a regular pie dish as well

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large bowl mix 1 tbsp of olive oil, squash, onions, salt and pepper. Spread on a lined cookie sheet. Roast for 20 minutes or until done.

I baked the pastry for 8 minutes just to get is a bit cooked.

Meanwhile in a large skillet cook the spinach until welted, put in a strainer and squeeze the life and juice out of it. Set aside on paper towels.

Once squash and onions are out of the oven spread evenly over almost cooked pastry.

Add spinach spreading evenly.

add shredded cheese spreading evenly

In a separate bowl whip the eggs, whipping cream, sour cream and more salt and pepper or whatever else seasoning you like. I didn’t use garlic but I am sure it would be great too.

Pour egg mixture over the cheese and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. I just watched it until the entire thing looked brown and firm.

Serve warm. Store in fridge and serve the next day. We had it for breakfast (it has eggs right?) and it was even more fabulous.

Enjoy!

For desert I made peach cobbler with rum cream sauce and used the second pastry. No waste!