Looks Good Enough to Eat

We purchase/cook/consume enough oats at the Smith Haus to choke a horse. Okay, so that may not the best idiom selection since horses actually eat oats, but I suppose a horse could get choked if it ate too many oats too quickly. I am not horsing around when I say that our family consumes a LOT of oats. At least we are not sowing any wild oats, or feeling one's oats; we are ingesting 'em. Our family devours oats in the form of homemade granola, bread, waffles, cookies, and ho-hum-eat-it-every-morning-of-the-week porridge. Plain rolled oats are tasty right out of the box, too.

It's a good thing that Costco stocks mass quantities of this old fashioned rolled goodness. We also enjoy steel-cut oats, but since preparation takes 30+ minutes, they are more of a weekend treat. With all of the cholesterol-lowering grains that are consumed 'round here, our total cholesterol & LDL numbers should be at the right level.

We prepare our morning oatmeal with any milk other than cow's milk -- Soy, Almond, Coconut, Rice, or a combination of any of these. Over time, we have come up with a "recipe" of roughly 50% milk to 50% water. No salt. A dash of vanilla extract, the pure stuff, not the artificial flavoring kind, creates the perfect gruel. Adding flax seed to the mix is yet another option. The oatmeal may appear bland & colorless, but it is oh, so "colorful" in flavor, with or without any tasty topper add-ons. 

To keep boredom from creeping into our breakfast bowl, we mix it up as to what we put on top of our favorite soluble fiber. The photo above is a new favorite topper. Looks like ordinary nuts & raisins, huh? Not so. These walnuts have a homemade honey glazing. They can stand alone or are most excellent when paired up with Sun-Maid Mixed Jumbo Raisins. This type of raisin may cost a bit more, but it is well worth the added expense. YUM!

That ho-hum dish of plain oatmeal becomes an oatmeal sundae, of sorts. Other favorite "sundae" toppings include fresh or frozen fruit, chopped dates, dried blueberries or any dried fruit, granola, yogurt, brown sugar, pure maple syrup, pecans, honey, agave nectar, chocolate chips, pecans, Nutella, peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, Smuckers Simply Fruit, cinnamon, a dollop of whipped cream, and a cherry on top! The list of options goes on and on. There is a delicate balance of not adding too much of a good thing or too many different toppings at once --  it has to be just the right amount to enhance the flavor of the 'meal, yet not overwhelm it. Send me any ideas for toppings that you think we should try. (No gummy bears, please & thank you.)

Mr. Smith and I really look forward to our morning mush; the options are seemingly limitless as to how to dress up our oatmeal.  We have even been known to eat our oatmeal naked -- the oatmeal is naked, not us! Although I might be on to something there...   Food for thought?

Violet Thoughts

Springtime is definitely my favorite season. I love the freshness, the rebirth, the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and the vivid display of color. Spring provides a sense of hope. And it smells good! The only negative is having to "spring forward." My sleep cycle is still goofed up!

My favorite spring flowers are violets. This is an easy choice. There are many flowers that I love, but violets are special. I am especially fond of the heart-shaped leaves and the flower's delicate scent.  

When I was a litte girl, I would frequently gather large bunches of wild violets from the field near our house. The field didn't belong to my parents, so I suppose I was trespassing. And stealing! I find it interesting that the thought of "trespassing and stealing" has never occurred to me, until now. Hmmmm.... (It is far too late to apologize to the field's owners, Mr. and Mrs. Trueblood, for my past trangressions, especially since neither Harold nor Mary is still living. I am sure they knew what I was up to and allowed it to happen.)

After picking as many blossoms as I could find, I would eagerly run to our back door, bouquet hidden behind my back, knock, then wait for my mother to answer the door. Mom was never out of sorts that I had interrupted whatever activity she was involved with. With great joy, I would present my floral offering of love and affection. Hugs and kisses were exchanged -- all part of the "ritual" that I highly anticipated. Sometimes I would see tears in my mother's eyes, and as a youngster, I couldn't understand why or how violets would produce tears. 

Mom would select the perfect vase and arrange the blossoms as if they were a priceless treasure. The violet bouquet was always placed on the window ledge just above the kitchen sink. I suppose this location was chosen due to the fact that Mom spent many hours each day at the sink as she prepared food and washed dishes for our large-ish family. She wanted her flowers to be in plain view at all times. She would not discard the bouquet until the last blossom withered. An empty vase was my cue to get back out to the field.

Last spring, as I was visiting my parents, I was able to find enough violets to make a decent bouquet. I held the violets behind my back and was instantly transported to being about eight years old...

My parents have not lived in the house near the field of "free" flowers for twenty-some years. Violets grow in one of their flower beds, so I didn't have to beg, borrow, or steal the blossoms that made up my last bouquet. I guess that I felt compelled to share that detail, in an effort to ameliorate the trespassing/flower-stealing reputation I seem to have acquired.

It warms my heart that at least one of the three Smithlings still carries on the tradition of being a violet picker/deliverer. The "hidden-behind-the-back" bouquet thing just comes naturally, I guess. I didn't even have to tell my kids the story of how I used to pick flowers for my mom in an effort to drop hints that I, too, would like to be the recipient of a bunch of flowers, given with love. Over the years, all three Smith kids have delivered their fair share of bouquets comprised of violets, dandelions, and other unidentifiable things. I will always cherish those memories.

My twelve-year-old might be getting too old to bring me freshly-picked blossoms, but I am hoping to get at least one more spring delivery of violets this year. No stealing or borrowing is required, as I planted violets in my garden last week. Hint! Hint!

See the above photo? Those violets are happily growing in my garden; that is, until they get picked.

Lap Cat

Mr. Smith and I are currently taking a class at our church that covers the basics of the Christian faith. It's a great study. Although a lot of the material is "review," we are learning new things. And we are meeting new friends as an added bonus! It has also challenged us to be more diligent to have a daily quiet time (DQT).

One of the people in our class suggested that we all have a location for morning prayer/devotional time where there are two chairs. (I have heard this suggestion before, but it is always good to hear it again.) The two chairs serve as a reminder that God is sitting, patiently waiting for us to join him in conversation. One chair is His, the other one is mine.

The above photo shows my DQT spot in the kitchen. I have intended to use these chairs for the purpose of having a quiet time ever since we moved in the Smith Haus. These chairs, from the early 1900s, were from the Krueger family farm in Lahoma, OK. They are old, but very comfy, and built to last. This is a perfect location for morning devotions, as the morning sunshine streams through the windows. And I even have a place to put my coffee. ;-)

Over the past months, or even the past year, my DQT has been hit and miss. More miss than hit. There's really no excuse. My daily routine has been anything but routine, so many days "my" chair sits empty. I often get too busy with important stuff. My intentions are good, but I somehow never find the opportunity to sit, read, reflect, and pray once all the Smithlings are up for the day. There are many things vying for my attention. I guess I am not good at prioritizing.

I have been spending time here every morning for the past week, and I truly like having this quiet start to the day. Without fail, Jemima jumps up in the "empty" chair as I am reading or praying in my rocker. I guess she likes to curl up in Father God's lap, too.