Fire trucks, doughnuts, and cider

I LOVE the Fall!! Always have!! The cool fresh air, crisp apples, cider, sweaters, scarves, and, of course, the colors of the leaves! Love it, love it, love it!!

I grew up in a tiny community, Richmondville, New York. There are still only about 2,000 people in the village. The school, Richmondville Central School, was one main building and it housed K-12, less than 500 students in the entire school district. The brick structure had three floors and the high school was on the 3rd level. There were a couple of extra buildings for shop class and a house for home economics. 

Every Fall near Halloween, there was an evening when the Volunteer Fire Department would open and they would serve powdered doughnuts and apple cider for free to the community. The big thrill, though, was the ride on the back of the fire truck. We would step on the landing and climb up onto the heavy fabric of the hoses. When there was no space left for anyone else to get on that big red machine, the driver would clang the bell and run the siren and we were off. The air was cold on our faces and nearly everyone on the ride wore a jacket with a hood and gloves. It only took about 10 trips for every child in the community to get a ride. I participated in the tradition even through high school and college. It just wasn’t Fall without powdered doughnuts, cider, and a ride on the fire truck.

It’s a simple memory and it comes back to me every October. I live in Charlotte, NC, now and although there are no October fire truck rides (that I know of), I do have to have at least one powdered doughnut and cup of cider to welcome the season!! It just wouldn’t be Fall without it.

Here are a few pictures I took on a summer trip back to Richmondville.   

Oatmeal Pancakes and Waffles

Sometimes on my personal Facebook page I post pictures of food — doesn’t everybody? I often get requests for my recipes. I am, what I call, a "cupboard cook." In other words, I look to see what is in the cupboard, then I dump it together to make a meal. Sure, I do have a few recipes that I follow, but even then I usually alter them in some way. 

In my kitchen I try to stay as organic as I can and eat only humanely raised meat. Most of our meals are vegetarian, but we do have meat about once a week. Nearly every Sunday morning I make oatmeal pancakes or waffles for breakfast. So many people have asked for the recipe, I decided to try to share my recipe/process here. So here goes.

Here is the recipe I began with. It hangs on my refrigerator, along with some other recipes I use often. The original recipe did call for whole rolled oats but unground make it kind of dense, so I started to grind down whole rolled oats in the food processor to make it into a flour and the recipe lighter. I always grind extra oats into flour to keep in a canister on my counter; that way, I only have to make oat flour once a month or so.

Over time I have gradually changed the recipe to replace the all-purpose flour with ground oat flour. I also add extra baking power and baking soda to help the waffles or pancakes rise. Honestly, my husband and I prefer the heartiness of the oatmeal rather than white flour; we find it fills us better and we end up eating less. Oats are also more complex than all-purpose flour, providing more fiber and nutrition. To boost the fiber an extra notch, try adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseed. (I grind my flaxseed, too — using a coffee grinder that is reserved just for herbs, nuts, and seeds.)

I do like creating variations of the recipe. Sometimes I add fruit, like blueberries. Pecans or walnuts are a great addition. It's also fun to play with spices; pumpkin spice is one of our favorites!! The recipe was was delicious when I added some leftover pumpkin (1/4 - 1/2 cup) that was in my fridge. The point is to have fun with the recipe and just use what you have. Spices can be stirred directly into the batter. I don't add the fruits and nuts to the batter; instead, I put some batter on the griddle, then add the fruit and nuts. That way, it's also easy to customize the recipe for each person.

I really like using a nicely-seasoned cast iron griddle to cook my pancakes. Be sure to heat up the skillet before adding spray-on oil or butter. Pour your batter on immediately; this helps to keep it from sticking. You want a hot pan and cool oil.

You can use the same process for making waffles. Simply add a little extra liquid; waffle batter should be a bit thinner than pancake batter. Add some homemade whipped cream, a side of humanely-raised turkey sausage or turkey bacon, and you have a perfect breakfast.

I hope this helps a little. If you have any questions, make a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Happy Breakfast to all!!

Listening in Color

I really like documentaries, especially those about unique things or trivia. I’ve been watching a series on Netflix and came upon an exceptionally unique individual who caught my attention. His name is Neil Harbisson and he was born with achromatopsis. In simple terms, he was born severely colorblind. He only sees in grayscale. Seriously, it’s like watching the beginning of the Wizard of Oz 24 hours a day. (Yes, the beginning is in black and white. Go back and watch the opening scenes; it becomes color after the tornado.)

Neil wanted to do something about the lack of color in his world, so in 2003 he started working with doctors and a scientist to develop an electronic eye that detects color. It picks up on the light frequency and translates the color into sound. He had this implanted in his brain so he now actually listens to color. The eye looks, to me, like a single antenna coming from the back of his head and bending to his forehead. 

I became so intrigued, I looked him up on the internet and... hey, he did a Ted talk! So, I clicked on it and listened for the length of the talk, 9 minutes and 35 seconds. I was impressed. This man has got a great sense of humor!! I laughed with him all the way through his talk. 

Neil talked about getting dressed in the morning: “I used to dress in a way that looked good, now I dress in a way that sounds good. Today I am dressed in C major.” He made this statement as he drew attention to his yellow pants, blue shirt, and pink jacket. Honestly, I liked the combination.
“Supermarkets are like a night club,” he went on to say. He then continued with telling the audience that he especially enjoys the cleaning supply aisle because of all of the bright colors. 

Because colors show themselves in sounds and notes (music), he now listens to a voice and hears the color of the voice. Neil has become an artist and paints the sounds of the colors he hears. He showed pictures of how voices of different famous people look in color. His artwork is simply lovely. Makes me think about the phrase, ‘Your voice is like music to me ears’ — to him, it really is! 
When he listens to music, he hears it in color. He also said can hear the color of a person’s face and it has changed his perspective of beauty.

This got me wondering, when he describes people does he say something like, ‘His face was a C# but his clothes were a B minor?’ 

As I watched him talk, I was really struck by his presentation of confidence. The third eye he has on his head will certainly grab the attention of all of us. We might take a second or a third look, but when he looks back at us, what color and what notes does he hear? 

When we get to the bottom line, it seems to me everybody has something challenging in their lives. Neil took his challenge and developed an opportunity for himself. Frankly, I decided I am going to listen for the color of my challenges, how about you? 

You can hear Neil (in color) below.

International Literacy Day

September 8 was International Literacy Day. It was declared by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1965. That’s kinda cool!

Literacy is not only language and reading, but competence or knowledge in a specified area. We are all literate in something. My husband is quite literate with computers (my own personal IT guy), my friend is literate in pottery, and my daughter is literate in salsa dancing. Most of the time, however, when the word literacy is used, it is making reference to reading and writing and that is really what International Literacy Day is all about.

The ability to read and write, in my opinion, is more important now than ever to promote in the United States. With the slang used for texting (LOL, OMG, ROFL), assistance with spell check, and reliance on everything digital, technology has left us lacking in some ways. We do a lot of superficial reading but not as much deep reading. Getting lost in a story or learning something new is part of deep reading. I am not sure it matters if we are reading an ebook or a physical paper book, the point is that we all need to deep read a bit more. Below are a few good articles for you to READ.

• International Literacy Association: READ about International Literacy Day.
• The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction: This article by Annie Murphy Paul is really interesting. I don’t need to explain it when you can go READ it. 
• 11 Facts about Literacy in America: READ them, you might be surprised!! 

People all over the world celebrate International Literacy Day. I didn't see any public celebrations where I live, but we can all have our own personal celebrations, anytime, anywhere. Grab a book, a magazine, pull up an ebook online, or go to the library... then, turn off the TV, put down your phone, and READ. Who knows, you might just enjoy it and learn something you didn’t know before.

HAPPY (BELATED) INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY!
GO CELEBRATE!
READ!!