What Makes You Happy?

Several months ago, I found this rubber stamp on the Impress Cards and Stamps website.  Impress also operates several brick and mortar stores that teach card making and sell rubber stamping supplies in the Seattle area.  The words on this stamp, Do More of What Makes You Happy, reminded me of something valuable I learned in my Brief Counseling class at Denver Seminary. 

Because my goal was to become a Hospital Chaplain (for which I also needed to be an ordained minister), I took far more Bible classes than I did counseling classes.  Anyhow, I thought I would share this nugget with you.  It comes from a counseling approach, Strategic Solution-Focused Therapy, we learned in Brief Counseling.  I still have many of my textbooks – so the information is accurate.  I added the words in parentheses.

When you encounter challenges – consider the following:

1. What’s the trouble?  If it’s (something's) not broke, don’t fix it.
2. If it (something) works, do more of it.
3. If it (something) doesn’t work, stop doing it, and do something different.

So, Do More of What Makes You Happy.  Within reason of course . . .

I Made Cherry Limeade

Shortly before my birthday, Karlene, my roommate at the time, took me to Sonic, the closest place where you can get a half-way authentic Chicago Hot Dog.  At Sonic, I had a wonderful drink called Cherry Limeade.  Since then, I have been trying to replicate it. 

I found this recipe on the internet.  The frozen limeade you get from the grocery store has lots of corn syrup in it, and tastes pretty pathetic.  I started making Perfect Lemonade a couple years ago.  It’s still my favorite.  Limes are smaller than lemons and also cost a little bit more than their yellow cousins.  You might want to make Cherry Limeade when limes are on sale.

I juice lemons and limes by hand using a hand juicer that I bought on-line.  The easiest way to juice citrus is to cut the fruit in half at the widest point.  Now, imagine that the cut fruit is the face of a a clock.  Make small cuts with with a sharp knife at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock.  This makes the fruit easier to squeeze and you will get more juice.

CHERRY LIMEADE

º       1 ½ cups granulated sugar

º       1 ½ cups water

º       Small pinch of salt

º       1 ½ cups fresh squeezed lime juice

º       1/3 cup maraschino cherries, not the juice

º       2 T grenadine

º       3 to 5 cups cold water (Depending on how strong you like your limeade)

º       Maraschino cherries & lime slices for garnish

In a sauce pan bring sugar, 1 ½ cups of water, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Boil until the sugar is melted and the liquid is clear; about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside and cool slightly.

Place all the ingredients together in a half gallon pitcher and stir to combine. Chill and serve with garnishes.

Perfect Lemonade

º        1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)

º        1 cup water (for the simple syrup)

º        1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

º        3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute the lemonade)

Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and one cup of water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more lemon juice to it.

Shady

Like most people in the South Metro area, I have coyotes and foxes in my neighborhood.  As such, this is the closest that Isabelle is likely to get to the Great Outdoors.  Issie, who weighs a mere six pounds and has great balance, likes to sneak behind the Roman shade in my bedroom and stand on the window sill.

Hop to It

I 'm fully aware that rabbits are little more than rodents with floppy ears, but they sure are cute.  I found this baby bunny adjacent to my patio.  When I changed positions to get a better picture, the rascally rabbit hopped away.