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Dec. 8th, 2006
Three different posts this morning have reminded me of how incredibly lucky I am. I have two healthy, happy children, with a husband who loves all of us. I have the luxury of being able to take care of them myself, at least for a while. I have a family member who will look after them with love, when I go back to work. I am able to breastfeed my baby. I have my health, and the resources to look after it. All frustrations aside, I have a life most women in the world, and a fair percentage of men, would give their right arms to have.
I came across a quote in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
urban_homestead's journal, that I think I will add to my userinfo: "It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust." - Samuel Johnson
I've been thinking all morning about happiness, and I've come to a conclusion. The happiest people I know are those who take time on a regular basis to count their blessings and acknowledge the source(s) of them. These people do have down moments, times when they whine and complain, but they generally acknowledge that this is a passing state of mind due to circumstances that will change. I've known happy people who had practically nothing in the material sense, who did this, and unhappy people who had everything, who didn't. I want to be someone who looks through the problems of the moment, acknowledging them and giving them their place, and sees the beauty and blessings of the big picture.
I came across a quote in
urban_homestead's journal, that I think I will add to my userinfo: "It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust." - Samuel Johnson I've been thinking all morning about happiness, and I've come to a conclusion. The happiest people I know are those who take time on a regular basis to count their blessings and acknowledge the source(s) of them. These people do have down moments, times when they whine and complain, but they generally acknowledge that this is a passing state of mind due to circumstances that will change. I've known happy people who had practically nothing in the material sense, who did this, and unhappy people who had everything, who didn't. I want to be someone who looks through the problems of the moment, acknowledging them and giving them their place, and sees the beauty and blessings of the big picture.
Dawn was asking about this on her post, and I thought I'd link to it for anyone else who's interested.
What to do with an English Christmas Pudding, from my memories of Puddingfest:
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/49114.html
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/37796.html
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/38012.html
Basically: tie it down with a piece of old pillowcase as described above, and pin the ends of the pillowcase over the pudding mold to form a cloth handle. (This only works if it's in a ceramic, glass, or metal "pudding mold," aka a bowl. If it's not, rummage amongst your kitchen ware until you find something that fits it fairly snugly; a Pyrex bowl will work.) Put an iron or ceramic trivet in a pot with a few inches of boiling water in it, and lower the pudding in. Put the lid on the pot. Steam the pudding for an hour or two if you're just heating it up. Top up the water whenever it gets low, so that there's a constant amount of steam in the pot, but don't let water touch the pudding itself - it will discolour it. Use water that's already boiling to top it up. Take it out of the boiling water by inserting a long handle of some sort into the handle of cloth that you made. Turn the pudding out onto a cooling rack to dry off a bit. Serve warm, with a white sauce, or a rum sauce if you prefer.
What to do with an English Christmas Pudding, from my memories of Puddingfest:
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/49114.html
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/37796.html
http://velvetpage.livejournal.com/38012.html
Basically: tie it down with a piece of old pillowcase as described above, and pin the ends of the pillowcase over the pudding mold to form a cloth handle. (This only works if it's in a ceramic, glass, or metal "pudding mold," aka a bowl. If it's not, rummage amongst your kitchen ware until you find something that fits it fairly snugly; a Pyrex bowl will work.) Put an iron or ceramic trivet in a pot with a few inches of boiling water in it, and lower the pudding in. Put the lid on the pot. Steam the pudding for an hour or two if you're just heating it up. Top up the water whenever it gets low, so that there's a constant amount of steam in the pot, but don't let water touch the pudding itself - it will discolour it. Use water that's already boiling to top it up. Take it out of the boiling water by inserting a long handle of some sort into the handle of cloth that you made. Turn the pudding out onto a cooling rack to dry off a bit. Serve warm, with a white sauce, or a rum sauce if you prefer.
