"Nineteen Weeks Down That Road Again"-Hardtack & Johnnie Cake!!!

Getting to that point where I don't want to diet any more and it is getting harder for me...I always have trouble in the summer...Get busy outside and forget to eat lunch or it gets to late to prepare a proper supper...You must know what I am talking about...I did lose .5 pounds last week....Mowed the grass today, cleaned out the pond and got it set up and then planted flowers & tomatoes...I have 20 tomato plants in containers (Black Walnut tree kills them if I put them in the ground)They are all heirlooms and different varieties....Also have some grape & cherry tomatoes...It was so hot here today..Got up to the high 90's and my face and arms got sunburned a little....Will have to get the pond plants out of the basement and into the water tomorrow and then restock my fish....Always something going on....
This is my 2 year old great-granddaughter Evelyn at her birthday party Sunday

< and her 3 year old brother Ethan

HARDTACK & JOHNNIE CAKE!!!

"'Tis the song that is uttered in camp by night and day,
'Tis the wail that is mingled with each snore;
'Tis the sighing of the soul for spring chickens far away,
'Oh hard crackers, come again no more!'

'Tis the song of the soldier, weary, hungry and faint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more;
Many days have I chewed you and uttered no complaint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more!"

Hardtack was a biscuit made of flour with other simple ingredients, and issued to Union soldiers throughout the war. Hardtack crackers made up a large portion of a soldier's daily ration. It was square or sometimes rectangular in shape with small holes baked into it, similar to a large soda cracker. Large factories in the north baked hundreds of hardtack crackers every day, packed them in wooden crates and shipped them out by wagon or rail. If the hardtack was received soon after leaving the factory, they were quite tasty and satisfying. Usually, the hardtack did not get to the soldiers until months after it had been made. By that time, they were very hard, so hard that soldiers called them "tooth dullers" and "sheet iron crackers". Sometimes they were infested with small bugs the soldiers called weevils, so they referred to the hardtack as "worm castles" because of the many holes bored through the crackers by these pests. The wooden crates were stacked outside of tents and warehouses until it was time to issue them. Soldiers were usually allowed six to eight crackers for a three-day ration. There were a number of ways to eat them- plain or prepared with other ration items. Soldiers would crumble them into coffee or soften them in water and fry the hardtack with some bacon grease. One favorite soldier dish was salted pork fried with hardtack crumbled into the mixture. Soldiers called this "skillygallee", and it was a common and easily prepared meal.
Would you like to make some hardtack to display in your primitive home? It's very easy to make and here's the recipe…

HARDTACK:
2 cups of flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat
6 pinches of salt
Mix the ingredients together into a stiff batter, knead several times, and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of 1/2 inch on a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake for one-half an hour at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough. Turn dough over, return to the oven and bake another one-half hour. Turn oven off and leave the door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until cool. Remove…It should be very hard and dry….If it isn’t then turn the oven on to 150% and leave the hardtack in till hard & dry…These look nice in old jars with a waxed calico covering tied with grungy butcher string…

JOHNNIE CAKE:

Does your taste lean more to the southern side? Then try a "Johnnie Cake” that the Confederate soldiers enjoyed with their meals. The recipe is also very simple:
two cups of cornmeal
2/3 cup of milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Mix ingredients into a stiff batter and form eight biscuit-sized "dodgers". Bake on a lightly greased sheet at 250 degrees till brown and hard, and you have a real southern Johnnie Cake to display in your primitive home….You can spray the Hardtack & Johnnie Cakes with matte clear acrylic sealer if you are worried about bugs getting in them….
If you want to make the Johnnie cakes to eat, then you… Mix ingredients into a stiff batter and form eight biscuit-sized "dodgers". Bake on a lightly greased sheet at 350 degrees for twenty to twenty five minutes or until brown. Or spoon the batter into hot cooking oil in a frying pan over a low flame. Remove the corn dodgers and let cool on a paper towel, spread with a little butter or molasses, and you have a real southern treat!
My Mother use to make these and she called them “Kentucky Dodgers”….We loved them with pinto beans, butter beans & fried potatoes….No wonder I have a weight problem!!!

Here is a label for your old Jar!

I got this label from a blogger, but I don't remember who it was...It was in a widget box, so someone please let me know....It is A Primitive Journey that has this label plus some more for you to grab...Just click on the name to go there...Thanks Diane for letting me know!

Strawberries, Strawberries and More Strawberries This Way & That Way!!

Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cups cold sparkling water or club soda
Ice
Mint sprigs, garnish
Whole strawberries, garnish
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from the heat. Let cool completely, then strain into a clean pitcher.

In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries and add to the pitcher with the lemon juice. Stir well to combine and refrigerate until well chilled.

Add the sparkling water and stir well. Pour over glasses filled with ice and serve, garnished with mint and strawberries.

Strawberry Soda Pop Cake

Ingredients:
1 yellow or white cake mix
1 large pkg. or 2 small pkgs. strawberry Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1 cup strawberry soda pop
1 small box vanilla INSTANT sugar free pudding
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1 large container of lite cool whip
Preparation:
Prepare cake mix according to package directions; bake in 13x9x2-inch pan. While still warm, puncture cake with a fork, about every 2 inches.
Combine Jell-O and boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Add strawberry soda pop to Jell-O and stir. Pour over cake while warm. Refridgerate this cake for at least 4 hours before serving.
Mix pudding with 1 1/2 cups skim milk, and beat until thick. Stir in Cool Whip and spread over cake before serving.

7 Up Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pie shell (8" size) baked & cooled; or crumb crust if preferred
1 pint fresh ripe strawberries, washed,stems removed, well drained
***Glaze***
1 cup sugar
1 cup 7up (or Squirt)
5 tablespoons arrow root or cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons cranberry jello
Directions:
Place strawberries in pie shell with flat side down.

Glaze: In a medium non-aluminum saucepan mix all ingredients EXCEPT the cornstarch or arrow root. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add cornstarch or arrow root and cook until thick. Remove from heat & stir in the jello. Stir until dissolved. Let cool.

Spoon glaze over fresh strawberries in pie shell. Completely cool, then chill in refrigerator overnight.

Decorate the outer edge of the pie with whipped cream or cool whip.

If using pre-made crumb pie crust, melt 1/3 cup chocolate morsels; with small slanted cake spatula, spread a thin coat of chocolate in bottom only, of pie shell. Apply chocolate in a circular motion making sure you cover the complete bottom of shell. This prevents the crumb crust from breaking up when you slice the pie. When using a chocolate crumb crust I use white chocolate chips for the coating

Tips for Cake Baking & White Chocolate and Sweet Potato Cake Recipe!!!

Tips for Cake Baking:

I’ve baked dozens of cakes, certainly hundreds of cupcakes, in my time- and while I’d like to be able to say that they were all mouthwatering successes, the truth is that I’ve had more than my fair share of failed cakes. The problem with cake baking, you see, is that it’s so very easy to screw up- all it takes is one forgotten ingredient, or one stir too many on your stand mixer, or forgetting to set the kitchen timer…

Today, I share with you my essential tips for cake baking. Hopefully, they bring you many deliciously successful cakes:

Take your measurements seriously. It’s all very well to dump in a little bit of this and that when cooking, but baking requires precision. After realizing that a one-cup measuring cup differed so much from another, I bit the bullet, bought a weighing scale, and use that to measure almost all my ingredients. I recommend the wonderfully affordable Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale.

Use fresh ingredients. You wouldn’t use rancid butter or rotten eggs in your cooking or baking, and you want to make sure everything else is fresh as well. Check your flour for bugs, the expiration date of your baking powder and baking soda, and so on. Trust me, it matters.

Measure out everything first. It’s called mise en place - literally, “put in place” in French - and here’s its description from Wikipedia:

Recipes are reviewed, to check for necessary ingredients and equipment. Ingredients are measured out, washed, chopped and placed in individual bowls. Equipment such as spatulas and blenders are prepared for use, while ovens are preheated. Preparing the mise en place ahead of time allows the chef to cook without having to stop and assemble items, which is desirable in recipes with time constraints.

Don’t rely completely on the recipe. Why? Because cookbook and recipe writers and editors are only human- they make mistakes too. If something strikes you as very odd, like a missing ingredient or a method that doesn’t make sense, stop and think about it. Go online and search for user reviews on the recipe

Cream your butter and sugar well. By that, I mean at least three whole minutes. And I don’t recommend softening your butter, unless it’s pretty rock-hard. If it’s a couple of degrees below room temperature, it will cream beautifully right in your stand mixer.

Beat the eggs in one at a time. Add your eggs one at a time. I like to add an egg, run the mixer for twenty seconds, and so on. At this point, there’s no danger of overbeating your cake batter, so really get it well incorporated.

Fold in your dry ingredients gently and just barely. Here’s where you want to turn your mixer off- and once you add your dry ingredients (flour, etc.) you never want to go above the “stir” (or the lowest) speed. This right here is where you must not overbeat, or you’ll end up with a tough cake.

Use buttermilk. I almost always substitute buttermilk for milk in any cake recipe. It makes for a more tender, moister crumb. You can also add a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to a cup of milk for “instant” buttermilk.

Line your cake tin. I buy huge rolls of baking parchment in bulk, and use it for everything- baking and cooking. I like to line the bottoms of my cake tins with parchment paper, adhering it to the pan with a light spray of baking spray (e.g. Crisco spray, Baker’s Joy or PAM). It makes it so much easier. Note: whatever you do, do NOT line your cake tin with plastic wrap. It will melt. Not pretty.

Start checking your cake a few minutes early. Most unsuccessful cakes have been overbaked. The best thing is to get to know your own oven, its hotspots and cold spots. And remember that your cake will continue cooking for a few minutes after you remove it from the oven, so you want there to be at least a few moist crumbs stuck to your cake tester.

White Chocolate & Sweet Potato Cake Recipe

Wow, does this cake look amazing & you will certainly knock off the socks of your guests with this cake recipe!
This cake recipe is truly one of a kind. I had never made this particular cake, but have tasted something very similar. The subtle taste of the sweet potatoes gets along marvelously with the delicate flavor or white chocolate. This cake recipe is a true keeper. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 pounds sweet potatoes(about 3)
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
Unsalted butter, for pans
2 cups cake flour(not self-rising), plus more for pans
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brandy
1 1/2 cups unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
1 pound white chocolate
2 cups heavy cream

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 F or 200 C. Coat potatoes with 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and place on baking sheet. Bake until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skin, and mash flesh with a fork into coarse purée.

Lower oven temperature to 325°. Butter two 8-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pans, dust with flour, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup vegetable oil; beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the cooled sweet potatoes; mix until combined.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; mix into sweet potato mixture. Mix in vanilla and brandy until combined. Remove batter from mixer; fold in 1 cup macadamia nuts by hand.

Evenly distribute cake batter into prepared pans, and transfer to the oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; cool completely, about 1 1/4 hours.

Meanwhile, chop white chocolate into small pieces; set aside. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil; pour over chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Chill for 30 to 40 minutes.

When chocolate mixture has cooled, pour remaining cup cream into an electric mixer; whip on medium until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture until fully incorporated.

Cut each cake layer in half horizontally, creating four layers. Spread 2/3 cup chocolate frosting on one layer, then stack next layer on top, and frost. Repeat frosting-and-stacking process until each layer is frosted. Spread remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Arrange remaining 1/2 cup macadamia nuts on top of cake, and serve with a smile!

Eat well & Laugh often!

TGIF & Laughter Is The Best Medicine!!

George Carlin's Views on Aging

IF YOU DON'T READ THIS TO
THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST
A DAY IN YOUR LIFE.
AND WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED,
DO AS I AM DOING AND SEND IT ON.

Do you realize that the only time in
our lives when we like to get old
is when we're kids?
If you're less than 10 years old,
you're so excited about aging
that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?"
"I'm four and a half!"
You're never thirty-six and a half.
You're four and a half,
going on five! That's the key

You get into your teens,
now they can't hold you back.
You jump to the next number,
or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?"
"I'm gonna be 16!"
You could be 13, but hey,
you're gonna be 16!
And then the greatest day of your life .. .
You become 21.
Even the words sound like a ceremony
YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30.
Oooohh, what happened there?
Makes you sound like bad milk!
He TURNED; we had to throw him out.
There's no fun now,
you're Just a sour-dumpling.
What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21,
you TURN 30,
then you're PUSHING 40.
Whoa! Put on the brakes,
it's all slipping away. Before you know it,
you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!!
You MAKE it to 60.
You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21,
TURN 30,
PUSH 40,
REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much
speed that you HIT 70!
After that it's a day-by-day thing;
you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's
and every day is a complete cycle;
you HIT lunch;
you TURN 4:30 ;
you REACH bedtime.
And it doesn't end there.
Into the 90s,
you start going backwards;
"I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens.
If you make it over 100,
you become a little kid again.
"I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a
healthy 100 and a half!!

Rambling Thursday...Some Of This & Some Of That ...

Kool-Aid Pickles Recipe

Ingredients:
1 jar (46-ounce size) whole regular dill pickles, drained
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 packets Unsweetened Cherry Kool-Aid

Directions:
Drain and discard the juice from the pickle jar. Remove the pickles from the jar and cut each one in half lengthwise. Return the pickles to the jar and set aside. Pickle chips can also be used. In a large measuring cup, combine the sugar, water and Kool-Aid. Mix until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour enough of the liquid into the pickle jar to cover the pickles. Discard any excess. Cover the jar and refrigerate at least 24 hours. Several days to a week is better. Makes a red colored, sweet, sour, salty pickle treat.

Apple and Spinach Salad
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
8 cups fresh baby spinach (about 8 ounces)
1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
Directions:
Combine juices, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Place onions and spinach in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss together. Top with blue cheese.

Fresh Herbs

Looking for healthy, simple ways to take a dish from bland to brilliant? Do what professional chefs do: Use herbs.
Have you ever wondered why everything tastes so exquisite in fine restaurants? If you've talked to anyone in the food industry, you know: lots of butter. (Indeed, I even had a chef confess to me that the dastardly secret to his delicious egg white omelets was heavy cream.)
But there's another tack you can take at home: liberal use of fresh herbs. They add a sprightly complexity that can't be matched by dried, and are perhaps the single most transformative ingredient you can use to make your own cooking taste more like the work of a professional chef.
Growing your own herbs in a kitchen box takes little work other than daily watering; fresh herbs are also available year round in grocery stores, generally for under $2. So make it a policy to have at least one kind in the fridge, and see what a difference they can make in your cooking.


Basil
Lucky is the gardener with a thriving basil plant; these emerald-green satiny leaves emit the perfume of summer.

Chives
These oniony shoots are a boon to any busy cook. When you don't feel like getting out the cutting board to chop up an onion, snip these crunchy greens into a dish with a pair of scissors.

Cilantro
A somewhat polarizing herb, cilantro is prized in Chinese, Thai, Portuguese and Latin American cooking.

Dill
Don't let the delicate fronds fool you: Dill packs a lot of punch and tastes like a cross between celery, parsley and fresh fennel.

Marjoram
Though in the same family as oregano, velvety-leafed marjoram is more mellow, with floral notes as well as hints of sage and thyme.

Mint
Anyone who's tasted fresh mint can remember the shock of its bright, herbal pungency.

Oregano
If you have trouble telling oregano's somewhat fuzzy leaves from marjoram's, that's because they're so closely related.

Parsley
Parsley deserves a seat of honor in the pantheon of herbs for its ability to freshen almost any dish as well as to boost the flavor of any other herb paired with it.

Rosemary
Fresh rosemary looks, tastes and smells as if it's been stripped from a pine tree, along with some citrusy notes.

Sage
These fuzzy, sometimes silvery leaves are beautiful and strongly scented with the high notes of menthol and the low notes of the woods.

Tarragon
With its long, slender, pointy green leaves, tarragon has a lovely, gentle combination of licorice, basil and green-tasting qualities, plus a pleasant lemony-sour aftertaste.

Thyme
The foundation of many slow-cooked French dishes, thyme tastes deeply herbal and almost meaty.

Need Some Humor?

There was a very self-sufficient blind man, who did a lot of traveling alone. He was making his first trip to Texas and happened to be seated next to a Texan on the flight.
The Texan spent a lot of time telling him how everything is bigger and better in Texas. By the time the blind man had reached his destination, a large resort hotel, he was very excited about being in Texas.
The long trip had worn him out a little so he decided to stop at the bar for a small soda and a light snack before going up to his room to unpack this clothes.
When the waitress set down his drink, it was in a huge mug. "Wow, I had heard everything in Texas is bigger," he told her.
"That's right,"she replied. The blind man ate his snack and finished his drink. After drinking such a large amount, it was only natural his next stop was going to have to be the restroom. He asked the waitress for directions. She told him to turn left at the register and it would be the second door on the right.
He reached the first door and continued down the hall. A few steps later he stumbled slightly and missed the second door altogether and ended up going through the 3rd door instead. Not realizing he had entered the swimming area he walked forward and immediately fell into the swimming pool.
Remembering everything he had heard about things being bigger in Texas, as soon as he had his head above water he started shouting "Don't flush! Don't flush!"

This & That Junk Drawer Wednesday-Spring Recital, How To Stay Young, Strawberries & Rhubarb Cobbler & Dandelion Wine!!!

My granddaughter's Bee's spring recital. May 10th, 2009. Five days after her 16th b'day



She played Sicilienne Op 78 by Gabriel Fauré. Scroll down to the left side to stop my music from playing, so you can hear her...She has been taking lessons from a college professor for the last few years as she had outgrown her original flute instructor...Needless to say we are all so proud of her...Last summer she was picked to go to Boston & New York to play for the 4TH of July....

How To Stay Young

By George Carlin
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. - This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. - The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening whatever. - "Never let the brain idle." "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. - The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. - Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: - If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. - Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And if you don't send this to at least 8 people - who cares? But do share this with someone. We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER, Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything!

On one woman's tombstone she said she wanted this epitaph:
Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

Now that we have all the beautiful yellow flowers growing in our yards I thought you might like to put them to use.

Dandelion Wine:

INGREDIENTS:
2 Gallons, or about 3 pounds of dandelion heads
3 pounds of raisins
10 pounds of sugar
6 tsp. of acid blend (citric, tartaric & malic)
1 tsp. of grape tannins
2 tsp. of yeast nutrient
1 pkt. champagne yeast
5 gallons of spring water (or well water)
DIRECTIONS:
1.Combine all above ingredients in a 6 gallon pail. Specific gravity of 1.11 - 1.13Cover with a plastic bag. Let bubble and ferment happily for 10 days at room temperature. Every couple of days in those 10 days, stir the mixture.
2.After the 10 days, rack the liquid off of the solids into a 5 gallon glass carboy. Cork the carboy with an air lock stopper. Let it do it's thing in a dark corner of your house for 6 to 9 months.
3.Every 2-3 months during those six months, rack the liquid off the sediment. Put back into carboy and wait.
4.If you start it in May, it's ready to bottle in December. It's a great taste of Spring in the dead of winter. Enjoy!!!
5.All of the ingredients can be found at your local homebrew store or on line...Just google it....Have fun!!!

Strawberries & Rhubarb Cobbler
Cobbler is very easy to prepare, and this delicious topping will work with different fruits all season long. Strawberries and rhubarb make for the earliest (and perhaps best) cobbler. Wonderful with ice cream.

Filling:
1 quart strawberries, washed, tops removed and cut in half–about 4 Cups
4 Cups chopped rhubarb, washed and sliced into ½" pieces, (about 1 lb.)
2/3 Cup white granulated sugar
4 TB. Vanilla Sugar, divided
Topping:
1¾ Cup all purpose flour
½ Cup sugar
1 TB. baking powder
1 pinch salt
6 TB. (¾ stick) butter, cold
¾ Cup milk
Preheat oven to 350°. Place the strawberries, rhubarb, white sugar and 3 TB. vanilla sugar in a bowl, toss gently and set aside.To prepare topping, mix the flour, ½ Cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir to blend. Cut the butter into small pieces, put into the flour mixture and blend with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir just to blend.Butter a 9" by 13" baking pan (we prefer glass), place the fruit in the pan, and spoon the topping over the fruit. Spread it out with a spoon as best as you can, but don't worry if it doesn't reach to all the edges, as it will smooth out while baking. Sprinkle the crust with the remaining tablespoon of vanilla sugar. Place the pan in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let cool before cutting and serving. Serves: 8

"HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY"

Before I was a Mom -
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.
Before I was a Mom -
I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life
so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.
Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
Send this to someone whom you think is a special Mom...
And remember that behind every successful woman......
is a basket of dirty laundry.

The picture on my logo is my Mother and me when I was 6 weeks old....The graphic is from My Little Raggedy Blessings.