Oh boy. I don't know why it takes me so long to actually sit down and write this thing. Probably the same reason I don't jump out of bed in the morning, I am a procrastinator.
I have to say I think the happy thoughts thing works. I do seem a bit more up and the things that bug me were a little easier to take last week. Someone also gave me a really happy website. I do not mean to say that it is like just full of sunshine and so over the top with positive stuff that you would think it to be a joke. Here is the location. She just seems to have a healthy outlook on life. I am told that the health bars are great and easy!! Also a few years back Liz and I tried our hands at making cheese and it is nice to find others who do those things maybe it will inspire us.

A blog or two ago I wrote about a dream I had. Someone left a comment. I thought it was hysterical. It was left by brusselsprout? This sounded familiar, but I could not place the person. So I did a search on brusselsprout. All I could find was a conspiracy theorist in West Bend Ind. It was not so funny any more. Was it for real?
Turns out it was my big brother John (B)Russell(sprout) Hughes.

That was very funny. I am glad the mystery is over. I started this post weeks ago. I cannot think of what the purpose of this was so I will end it and start another.

Remember Happy thoughts!!

sunshine

Do we all have a correct view of who we are? I think of myself as very objective even when it comes to me. Although this past two weeks I am questioning my abilty to look at myself the way others may see me.

This started from many things. The biggest being that it suddenly occured to me that a few people in my life do not see in themselves what I (and I assume the rest of the world) see in them. For example someone who is offering advice on health, yet they do not realize that they are always having health issues. Or someone who talks about serenity and keeping centered and they come across as anything but centered and calm. Naturally for me I started to think what is wrong with everyone? Am I the only clear person out there. Then I remembered one of those wise offerings from an elder in my life many years ago, "what seems to bother you in others is what is bothering you.". Could it be true? Am I not what I think?

I started to pay closer attention to myself and what I got back from others. It is true I am not the happy go lucky person I think I am. The person who nothing bothers,the one who sees the positive in things nor am I always as clear as believe myself to be.

So I am going to try and correct the problem. I could take the easy way out, and just accept my perceived persona. The problem is that I do not think that I am really that negative and I do not want to be a down sort of person, although I do get off on complaining and whining!! As of now a more positive and up person I will show to the world.


To kick off my new attitude I would like to happily share an old family recipe for corn bread. We call it Spider Cornbread.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups white or yellow cornmeal
2 Tbs. sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3 cups buttermilk or soured milk preferred or regular milk
Turn this recipe into a puzzle! [click]



Directions:

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix well. Melt butter in a 12 inch black cast iron skillet with oven proof handle in a preheated 400F. Beat eggs well and beat in 2 cups buttermilk. Then combine with dry mixture to moisten well. Remove skillet from oven, tilt pan to evenly coat the butter in the pan. Pour in the cornmeal batter and immediately pour on the remaining cup of buttermilk. Do not mix in. Return to oven and bake about 30 minutes or until top is pale golden and tester inserted comes out clean. Don't overbake. Serve hot, cut or scooped from the pan with additional butter. Note: stone ground cornmeal will have a different texture than other types of cornmeal. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, cornbread may be baked in a 9 x 13 pan. The name "spider" refers to the type of pan, an old cast iron pan with "feet"



Spider Cornbread serves/makes 6

Enjoy yourselves!!! I'll write again soon!
Phil