SAVE YOUR LOTION

Don't throw away your plastic tubes of hand creams, lotions, make-up etc. You may not be able to squeeze them out as they empty. However once you cut the tube in half you'll be surprised to see how much is still left in there. You'll have several more uses of your favorite product. To prevent it from drying out just slip the cut lower end over the first end like a sleeve for future use.

RADISH LEAF SALAD

This is the season to buy delicious radishes. I am not much of a radish fan but my husband likes them in his salad. The last bunch of radishes I bought from the farm had very healthy looking leaves. I did not want to throw them away. After careful washing (they tend to have sand in them) and drying, I sauteed the clean leaves with chopped garlic and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil for about 2 minutes. They retained their beautiful color. A delicious surprise for the taste buds, crispy with a hint of sweet spice and made great side dish for the grilled steak. It's worth trying....

PURPLE POTATO SALAD

Purple Potato Salad

6 Large purple potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced

1/3 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoon Dijon style mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 hard cooked eggs, chopped

In a covered pan cook potatoes for 20 minutes or until tender. In a very large bowl combine celery, onion, mustard, mayonnaise vinegar, salt and pepper. Add potatoes and eggs. Toss lightly to mix and cover and chill overnight.

CELEBRATION

The month of June has been declared "Cancer Survivor's Month". Every month is a survivor month for me. I've been celebrating every day for the last 10 years as a valiant conqueror. I had stage III invasive breast Cancer and had a 50/50 chance to survive. I took the better 50% and ran with it.... After surviving the fifth year my oncologist told me that some people in my chemotherapy group were not as lucky as I.... He thought that my outlook in life, not succumbing to adversity along with my sense of humor and prayers saved my life. The survival rate from this stage is low. Cancer is a formidable foe but I overcame the beast. . . I marched on like a soldier to win this battle without self pity or feeling betrayal. In my own small way I believe that I'm here to help others and to give hope. I've been couselling friends whom I call my soul sisters and give them encouragement. I can understand what they are going through. I've been there and I can understand... It is scary but look at me... I am here. Breast cancer does not have a gender, color or creed although it is mostly women, men can have breast cancer also. I urge everybody women and men to do breast self examinations and go for mammography. It saves life. Today science has taken giant steps to target the risks and recurrences and perhaps one day eliminate breast cancer. The survival rate has increased and that in itself is cause for celebration.

Now lets take a deep breath and count our blessings and remember to schedule a mammography and do our self examinations each month.

Click here for an easy and free way to help fund mammograms for those in need at The Breast Cancer Site!

GOOD CUP OF COFFEE

To clean your coffemaker pour 1/3 cup of white vinegar into it and add water upto maximum line. Turn on the unit. Once it completes its cycle, empty the pot and fill it with clean water and repeat the aforesaid process. Vinegar cleans the calcium deposits that give coffee a bitter taste. Your next cup of coffe should be delicious. This process also works well with tea kettles. As an added bonus, vinegar will eliminate most kitchen odors.

I'll be posting more benefits of vinegar soon....

BASEBALL

I did not grow up watching baseball games. I only had a vague idea about this sport until I met my husband. While we were dating he took me to several baseball games, asked me to watch his favorite teams on TV. All the while he explained the game, the moves and the players names with great patience and enthusiasm. I still wasn't interested. . Don't get me wrong I love sports but baseball I don't know.... My husband knows. He loves this game, he is a die hard Yankee fan. He has trophies from his child hood games and scores of baseball cards that an avid collector would die for. When I look at these treasures I can picture him playing ball as a little boy as intently as he does everything in life. . . To show him my appreciation of everything he did to make me like this game I took a picture of his favorite mitt, bat and a ball he kept since his childhood. I also asked him to write an article about baseball for me here. That will be coming soon on these pages....

SUMMER COOLER

I enjoy making this icy cold and non-alchololic summer cooler. It is a great thirst quencher on a hot summer day.

10 ice cubes

12 oz frozen limeade

2 cups gingerale

Juice of one lime

Combine all ingrdients in a blender, first on low speed then on high speed for 40 seconds. Pour into margarita glasses and serve with a slice of lime and maraschino cherry. Makes 4 glasses. For an authentic look the rim can be salted.

ROSES FROM HEART

Yesterday was my birthday. Birthday to me is a special day for thoughts and reflections. We should live each day as if it is our birthday. With happy thoughts and kindness to each other. I am just happy to be alive and well. Some years ago I didn't even think I would be around. But with determination and doctors help, I am here today. I will talk about this subject later. .. Back to my day... I received many calls and several e-cards from my family and friends . Who thought we would have instant messaging?. I spent some time thinking about the world, the issues that the younger generation will have to face in the future. What would the world be like some twenty years from now? What new things are going to be invented? Today we have cellphones with calculators, computers, cameras and television all in one. I love technology.... I also had some nostalgic thoughts about past years, where things were very simple and safe.. Go figure!

WISTERIA

Wisteria was named after an American anatomist Casper Wistar and it is a genus of woody climbing plants of the pea family (Webster's Dictionary)....

In the shady far corner of my back yard there was a plant that kept coming up every year. It didn't look particulary interesting. It was hardy but had no flowers. I took a sample of its leaf to a nursery and I was informed that it looked like a Wisteria leaf. I have a Wisteria plant in my back yard!!! but where are the flowers????. I always wanted to grow them in my yard. Now I had this opportunity to have one of my own. I decided to keep a close eye on it. I watered it, fertilized it and waited for a year, nothing happened. The following year I decided to tie the new saplings to the fence. They took and started to move on the fence but still no flowers. Well , I kept extending the string each year and waited patiently. Still nothing... and I vigilantly kept extending the string.... Well last year my husband and I were gardening and he said "look at these buds your Wisteria is finally blossoming" I thought he was joking, because first, I had not seen a budding Wisteria plant and these looked like shriveled grapes on a vine and second I waited almost four years without success. How could it be? But I hadn't given up on them also. I was jumping with joy. (Yeah little things like that make me happy). We had exactly five flowering bunches. That was last year...... Look at them now I have a whole fence full of them. . AAhhh Wisteria.. I love Wisteria.. It smells heavenly specially on balmy spring evenings...

Isn't life the same way ? Nurture sometimes overcomes the Nature.

(PS. This picture is taken in May not February. I finally adjusted the dates in my camera).